A Question of Lions
by storycollage
Summary: When Regina hears that the flower tattoo on Emma Swan's wrist is called a ville de lyon, she sees a way out of her fairy dust-mandated destiny with the lion-tattooed Robin Hood. Was it a coincidence, a fairy dust blunder, or was there a bigger conspiracy at play? (Takes place one year after everything has settled back in Storybrooke. Veers from canon as of mid-season 3. Swan Queen)
1. Chapter 1

"I forget—is it cream in the cereal and skim in the coffee, or the other way around?"

Regina looked up from the newspaper in front of her and flashed a smile at the man. "It's been over a year and you still can't figure out the difference between skim and cream?"

Robin laughed, approaching the table with both cartons in hand. "Hey, you've had thirty years to get used to the oddities of this place. What kind of a world has more than one type of milk from a cow?"

Regina shook her head and grabbed the cream from his left hand, her fingers grazing over his as she slid the carton from his grip. She looked him in the eye, her eyebrow raised, and poured the cream into her coffee.

He snorted and poured the skim milk into her cereal for her, his arm extended in front of the article she'd been reading.

And there it was. The lion tattoo. The reason she'd been trying to keep the exasperation from her voice whenever he asked her an inane question that he could have solved himself with only two seconds of actual thought. The reason she'd been feigning a desire to sleep with him for any reason other than to get him to shut his mouth.

He was her soulmate.

If only Tinker Bell had never stolen the fairy dust that revealed the man with the lion tattoo to be her soulmate. Regina thought often of the night she first saw him, the decision she made to leave without speaking to him. She had been acting out of fear, but fear, she now reminded herself, was sometimes necessary to survival. Like when you are confronted with a bear in the forest. Or a lion on some boring asshole's arm. If only she could have pretended never to have seen it when their paths crossed decades later. But there was no fighting it, really. He was, and would always be, her one true love.

In her darkest moments she wondered if the soulmate system was linked to some Snow Whitesque system of atonement. She had always considered her one-liners quick-witted and sassy, evidence of her high intelligence and dry sense of humour. Robin had charmed her by matching each barbed comment with one of his own. But the appeal had waned over time and she'd begun to wonder: Had he ever really been funny? Had she? The growing resentment and hatred she felt for this man had started to spread to herself.

Perhaps this was the end of the Evil Queen, she thought. Her ego had diminished. Her sense of self had been lost. Maybe this placid wearing down of one another's expectations was what everybody meant by a happy ending. What if this was happiness? What then?

"Regina?"

She snapped back into the present, Robin now seated next to her with his own bowl of cereal.

"I thought you were supposed to eat this stuff before it turned into a cold mush." He nodded to her bowl of untouched cereal, now revoltingly saturated and limp.

Regina groaned and pushed the bowl away, catching a glimpse of the time on her watch. She stood, chugged her coffee, and bid farewell to her suitor.

"Don't I get a kiss?" he called after her.

"I'm late!" she called back. 

#### 

In fact, she wasn't late. She just wasn't as early as she would have liked.

"Come on in," Emma said, abandoning her at the door to tend to some smoky mess in the kitchen.

Regina had been teasing the sheriff about her cooking skills for months, arriving earlier each week to take over her son's breakfast preparations. Any chance to remind Emma that the fake memories she had of being Henry's mother did not actually equip her with a decade's worth of motherhood skills.

She stared flatly at the woman as she dumped two charred pieces of toast in the garbage. Skirting around her, Regina made her way to the bag of bread and put four new pieces down in the toaster.

"Now you're making my breakfast, too?" Emma asked, prodding at the eggs frying in the pan in front of her. "That's oddly nice of you."

Regina grimaced. "Robin ruined my cereal this morning. I thought you could spare two measly pieces of toast, after all of the time I've been saving you by making Henry's breakfasts."

Emma sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what I was thinking. Go right ahead. Want me to put another egg on for you?"

Regina stared into the pan, wondering if the woman was about to poison Henry with salmonella. "No thank you. Toast is quite enough for me."

A beat passed before Emma asked, "So, how exactly does one ruin cereal?"

Now it was Regina's turn to sigh. "It wasn't his fault, really. I just got distracted after he poured the milk in."

"Ugh," Emma recoiled. "TMI. Sorry I asked."

Regina frowned, puzzled by Emma's reaction. TMI, TMI, what was that one again?

Henry interrupted her train of thought by making an appearance on the stairs. He slunk down, step by step, and walked like a zombie to the island counter. "Mmrg," he mumbled in greeting.

"Good morning to you too, kid," Emma said with a laugh.

"You used to be so bubbly in the mornings." Regina divided the toast onto two plates and absentmindedly put two more pieces of bread in the toaster. "Maybe you're not feeding him well enough at night. When he lived with me, he had more energy than this."

"Regina, he's 13. Things change."

Henry groaned again and shuffled to the fridge for some orange juice. Regina passed him the tallest glass in the cupboard and watched, concerned, as he filled and emptied the glass.

"So you're saying this is puberty, not malnutrition?" Regina asked, gesturing to the boy refilling his glass.

"Please don't say that word," Henry groaned. "It's gross when you say it."

"Puberty is nothing to be ashamed of, kid," Emma said, focusing on flipping the eggs.

"It's gross when you say it, too," the boy mumbled.

"Is it grosser when I say it or when your mom says it?" Emma teased, apparently high on the victory of having successfully flipped both eggs. "Pyuuuberrrtyyyy."

Regina nearly choked on her toast. The woman was deliberately antagonizing Henry, and she would probably get away with it! This was a game to her. She could tease Henry and he wouldn't start having a fit and storm out of the house, accusing her of being evil. As thankful as Regina was that Henry now remembered his life in Storybrooke before the curse that took him and Emma away, she was becoming increasingly bitter to learn how much better he considered the memories from his fake life with Emma. The memories Regina herself had given him.

Emma turned to Regina expectantly. Of course it was a game, Regina reminded herself. Play. She swallowed and composed herself.

"Puberty," she enunciated.

Henry looked between the two of them and grudgingly pointed at Regina.

She wasn't sure whether that meant she'd won or lost to Emma.

Emma laughed and served the eggs onto Henry's plate. "It's okay, kid. I won't say puberty around you anymore. Except when I'm talking about puberty."

"Ugh, if you promise never to say that word again, can I come back home and live with you?" Henry asked Regina, his mouth full of bread and eggs.

Her heart skipped a beat. For a moment another wave of anger washed over her, remembering the day she'd come home to a collection of boxes in the foyer. Robin had helped Henry pack up his room to bring all of his belongings to Emma's house. Now it was Roland's room, and despite Robin's insistence that the room would always be Henry's when he visited, her son hadn't slept over once. He would never return home now, thanks to Robin.

She could sense Emma's eyes on her at Henry's joke—and it was a joke, she reminded her pathetic heart—and decided to keep playing along.

"But what if I slip up, and I say… puberty?" she asked, crunching down on her piece of toast.

"Ugh, you guys are so gross." Henry scooped up the last bit of egg on his plate and shoved away from the counter, trudging toward the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Regina smiled. It had been fun to make her son squirm. It was like when he was four and he made her be the tickle monster after he saw a dad on TV doing it. She learned to play games for him before, and she could still do it now.

Plus, she thought, looking over at Emma scrubbing the frying pan, she was certain she'd won. 

* * *

Emma looked up from her desk when the man sighed for the fourth time. "Robin, if you're bored with your paperwork, I can send you out on patrol. David should probably come back and work on the papers from last week's burglary anyway. I'll swap you."

"No, Sheriff, I'm fine," Robin replied. "Sorry if I've bothered you."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "No snappy comeback? What's up with you?"

"Did Regina seem different today?" he asked. "When she picked Henry up from your place?"

"She was in a bit of a better mood than usual. She made me toast! Sort of. She kind of left it in the toaster too long and it burned a little. Why?"

Judging from his furrowed brow, this was not the answer he was expecting. "I feel like she's constantly in a bad mood around me. I thought maybe it was something going on with Henry, but… maybe it's me."

"Huh." She remembered Regina's comment about how Robin had _distracted_ her from her cereal this morning and shuddered. "I'm really trying to avoid TMI territory with other people's relationships, but from what she said this morning, it sounded like you had a very… fulfilling romance."

Robin nodded, distracted by his thoughts, which he thankfully did not voice.

"Speaking of Regina, though, I should probably go and take Henry off her hands. See you at 9 tomorrow. Staff meeting. Don't forget."

####

Emma approached the diner that afternoon without trepidation. It seemed the awkward stage of this new custody arrangement had finally passed. She and Regina might never be friends, but if they could team up to tease Henry like they did this morning, maybe one day they could parent him as a team, too, instead of as rivals.

"Good, Emma, you're here." Henry said, his tone signaling her to an argument he was having with his mother that he clearly wanted her to resolve. "Can I get a tattoo?"

"What? No! Why the hell do you want a tattoo?"

Despite his disappointment, he scootched over to make room for her at the booth.

"Henry wants to be a grown-up now," Roland chipped in, a crayon scratching away at the colouring pad in front of him.

Henry side-eyed the boy, as though wary that Roland, too, might try to ruin his life by speaking the word 'puberty' in front of him.

"Well, I was thinking about what you said earlier," Henry explained, turning his attention back to Emma. "The 'p' word. And how, if I were in Fairytale Land, I would probably go through some ceremony or something, like Robin did. Even you got a tattoo at my age!"

She ignored Regina's glare and focused. She had no excuse for the decision she'd made, and she didn't regret it either. "Henry, your mom and I both grew up in a different environment than this one. And if you compare your life to ours at your age, you should just be counting your lucky stars you have two parents who are actually looking out for you. If you still want a tattoo when you're 18, you're free to go do that, but for now—"

"Excuse me?" Regina interrupted. "He will not be getting a tattoo when he turns 18."

"Regina, we can't keep him from doing anything once he's an adult." She turned to Henry. "I just hope you'll respect us enough to consult us on the big things."

"Like tattoos," Regina added. "You don't want to go marking up your beautiful body."

Ruby's instinct for gossip drew her to the table with a cup of hot chocolate for Emma. Henry squirmed in embarrassment as the waitress joined the conversation.

"I don't think tattoos detract from beauty. Plus, Regina, you can't really talk. You're practically married to a tattooed man!"

"Yeah, and they don't keep you from getting jobs anymore, either," Emma added. "I mean, I'm the sheriff."

"You have a tattoo?" Ruby asked. "I never noticed."

"It's just a flower on her wrist," Henry said. "I'd want something big, like a chainmail sleeve."

"Henry, no," Regina said in a pleading tone. "So tacky."

Ruby, meanwhile, had seized Emma's wrist. "Pretty! Hey, it kind of looks like the flower on your family's crest. I think this world calls those ville de lyons, or something."

"Does that mean, like, lion village?" Henry asked. "That sounds pretty badass for a flower."

"Henry, language!"

Or at least that's what it sounded like Regina was trying to say. It came out more like a whisper. She was staring down at her hands on the table and looked a little pale to Emma.

"Hey, you alright?" Emma asked, tapping Regina's hand.

Regina drew in a sharp breath and withdrew her hand. For a moment Emma worried she was about to scream at her for touching her. Instead the woman plastered on a smile and calmly answered, "I'm fine. But I really should go home and make some dinner."

She and Roland were through the door so quickly, Emma swore Regina only had her coat half-on.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked Henry.

"I don't know," Henry mumbled with a shrug. "Maybe she's just up to something weird."

Emma sighed. That was just what she needed right now. 

* * *

Regina paced the hallways of the house, thinking. Something in the diner had clicked.

Ville de lyon.

A lion flower.

Was it possible the fairy dust that pointed to Robin had made a mistake? The thought that Emma Swan could be her real soulmate sent waves of anger and panic through her body. She didn't seriously think the woman could be her match, but the possibility that she was—shudder—meant it was possible Robin wasn't. How could the fairy dust rule out someone who hadn't been born at the time it was cast, someone who would grow up in another dimension? For all Regina knew, the dust got confused by the name of the flower and settled on Robin's gaudy beast tattoo instead.

The saviour was famous for getting into every single narrative in this town and turning it on its head. As far as Regina was concerned, Emma Swan's ill-advised lion flower tattoo could be her way out of this unbearable destiny with Robin Hood. She would save her worries about how unbearable life with the saviour would be until after she'd found a way out of this mess with Robin.

But was that how it really worked? Could she argue her way out of her true love pairing like some TV lawyer? Could she poke holes in the methodology of the dust? She needed answers.

Fuck dinner. Robin could fend for himself, and Roland wouldn't mind eating at the diner. She told Roland to get ready to go out again, and she pulled out her phone, scrolling through her list of contacts until she found the one that mattered most right now.

Tinker Bell.

####

"Twice in one day!" Ruby teased, as Regina entered the diner, Roland in tow.

She ignored the waitress and scanned the room for the fairy. The door jingled behind her and she turned to find her old friend. She held out her arm, gesturing to the booth in the corner. "Shall we?"

Once they'd seated themselves and ordered their food, Roland busied himself with the puzzles printed on his placemat, and Regina got to business.

"The fairy dust that night, where did you get it?"

"Sorry?"

"The fairy dust that showed me the path to—" she glanced at Roland then back at Tink, "to you-know-who. You stole it, right?"

Tinker Bell squinted. "You know I did. Why?"

"Well, have you ever wondered why there would be fairy dust lying around for you to steal? I mean, we all know you weren't the most competent fairy. How did you pull off such a challenging feat?"

"Pardon me?"

"Well, don't you think it's a bit odd that you were warned not to help me, and then you went and looked around and there was fairy dust for you to steal? I mean, was it even the right kind of fairy dust? Maybe it was bad fairy dust. That's why it was lying out. It was supposed to be thrown away."

Tink closed her eyes and massaged her temples. "Let me get this straight. You think I helped you with fairy dust from a garbage dumpster, that somebody planted there to sabotage my plan to help you. Fairy dust that could help you fly but somehow malfunctioned in its most important task."

Regina had expected her questions to offend. The woman was a fairy again, after all. "Am I glowing?" she asked the fairy.

"You want to know if you're glowing?"

"Yes. Am I glowing with new love, Tinker Bell?"

The fairy shook her head. "You're not glowing." She sighed. "Look, I can guess by your questions what this is about, but all I can tell you is that fairy dust doesn't lie. Just like that night at the tavern, you had to give a little to get your happy ending, too. Maybe you're having a hard time with Rob—"

Regina cleared her throat and nodded toward the child, who was colouring a portion of his placemat.

"Look, Regina, the fairy dust tells you who, but relationships actually take work, even if you know you're meant to be together."

"Is it possible for fairy dust to settle for a person? Is it possible that I'm meant to be with someone else with some of the same traits, but the dust couldn't find them? Someone else with a lion tattoo?"

"A lion tattoo?" Tink asked. "Regina, I was the one who pointed out the tattoo. The dust wasn't just looking for some random with a tat."

"But what if a person's soulmate wasn't alive when you used the dust?"

"Is this about Daniel? Regina, you need to move on from Daniel and accept that you can be happy with someone else."

"It's not about Daniel."

Tink lowered her voice, just in case Roland decided to tune in. "Do you think you're in love with someone else?"

"No!" Regina spat, resuming in a whisper. "I just think that there is a possibility that I might not be meant to be with him, specifically. What if, for example—" She sighed and looked around the diner before continuing, "What if—and I have never, ever—" She sighed again. "What if a woman's soulmate is another woman? I just wonder, with Mulan and all, I mean, what would the fairy dust have told her?"

A patronizing smile spread across Tink's face. "Look, Regina, fairy dust tells you who your happy ending should be with. You were dealt this hand. You can't just burn the cards."

Ruby arrived with their plates, but Tink stood from the table. "Thanks all the same, Ruby, but I think I've actually got to take mine to go."

Regina gritted her teeth. Most of her questions hadn't been answered. Was it a conspiracy, a time-space error, or a homophobic bias on the part of the dust itself? The only answer that had come to her with any clarity was this: there was no way she would ever find a happy ending with the man who made Emma Swan look like a romantic upgrade.


	2. Chapter 2

When they returned home, Roland ran into his father's arms and Regina gave them some space. She didn't want to intrude on their bonding session, and, honestly, she wasn't sure if she could look the man in the eye while she waited for their time to talk. Instead, she busied herself arranging their belongings upstairs. She wasn't about to kick the man and his child out tonight, but the house was hers and their belongings would need to be separated.

She paused.

If he wasn't leaving tonight, where would he sleep? Should _she_ sleep elsewhere tonight? She couldn't imagine giving Ruby the pleasure of showing up at the inn, suitcase in hand. Nor could she fight the panic in the pit of her stomach at the idea of asking Emma Swan to allow her to sleep on her couch. The office was a distinct possibility, but she had purposely chosen uncomfortable furniture to discourage guests from staying longer than twenty minutes.

She mulled over all of her options as she rearranged her bedroom and ensuite bathroom. She didn't even realize Robin had joined her until his hand was on her back and his lips were on her cheek.

"Cleaning?" He took stock of the new division of belongings on either side of the sink and frowned.

"Is Roland asleep?" she asked.

He nodded, still frowning.

She took his hand and led him down the stairs into the lounge room.

The two of them took a seat and Robin chuckled nervously. "You're either about to break up with me, or you want to have another baby."

"Well, I don't want another child." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

Robin's lips parted for a moment as though he anticipated a witty joke about how she would never break up with him.

Regina suddenly wished she could soothe him with loving assurances, but she bit her tongue. His sad eyes were not worth sacrificing her future for. She rearranged her thoughts and spoke carefully. "Robin, I know you think you and I are meant to be together, but I don't think either of us is very happy."

"Speak for yourself," he uttered, his voice hoarse.

"You're not happy, Robin. How could you be happy with someone who doesn't love you?"

He looked away, and she wished simultaneously that she had a gentler soul and that he could stop being sad and pathetic long enough to see reason.

"Robin, I care for you and Roland, I do—"

He made a gurgling sound.

"—but I think there's been a mistake with the fairy dust. I think… I think it was looking for someone who didn't exist in our realm, and I think you were the closest match."

"You…" he sputtered and shook his head. "You never wanted it to be me." He got up and started pacing around the room, his voice getting louder as he vented his thoughts. "And now you think, what? The dust chose me because I had the same haircut as your real soulmate and it got confused? How fucking convenient! Or maybe the dust was lazy, and couldn't be bothered to travel to the next realm over to find my long lost twin, Slobin Shood!"

Regina had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Slobin Shood? She couldn't wait to be rid of him.

"Robin, listen. I've recently begun to believe that we are all types. The queen with a dark past who needs to learn to love again, the warrior who seems to balance justice with their own personal penchant for thievery. We're types, and our types go well together in a lot of stories, but you and I don't in this one. All I'm saying is, I think it makes sense that the dust might choose you over another tattooed hero because you were the closest potential match at the time."

"You think I'm something you can just trade in for another one of my type?" he yelled. "You are abandoning me AGAIN. You rejected me before you even talked to me in that pub, and now you're dumping me before you even tried to make it work! It doesn't even bother you that you doomed me to years of misery because you were a coward that night at the pub!"

Regina clicked her tongue in scorn. "It was during that so-called misery that you met Marion and had Roland!" she spat. "How much of your life would you sacrifice just to follow the orders of a handful of dust?"

"I've never been good enough for you, have I?"

This time Regina did roll her eyes. "Work out your bitterness with Dr Hopper. You're not getting anything more from me. I'm telling you I'm done." She stood to leave.

Robin grabbed her arm. "So who is he, huh? This guy that's so interchangeable with me you can just replace me the second I'm gone?"

Regina glared at his hand, and he released her. "Let's not do this. Just let it go. You hate this relationship as much as I do."

"I don't, is the sad part." He sat down again, his rage exhausted. "But I'll pack up my shit and let you move on with your new tattooed hero."

Regina sneered. If he wanted to play the injured party, he could. His happy ending was no longer her concern.

"I need to go for a walk," he muttered, "and I'm not coming back tonight."

Relief washed over her at the dead look in his eyes. He was disengaging. She would soon be free.

"I'll pick up Roland in the morning, but that's it, Regina." The pleading look returned briefly. "You go through with this, I might not be there the next time you change your mind and decide I'm suddenly good enough for you. If I leave, I leave."

"As you wish," she said, and with a curt nod she excused herself from the room and headed upstairs.

####

Sprawled in the middle of her bed, Regina felt the world become exciting again. She didn't have to be with Robin Hood. Didn't have to talk to him or share a bed with him ever again.

Her mind turned to Emma Swan and her body went still.

No.

She wouldn't think about that tonight. She would never have to sleep with Emma because Emma wasn't actually her soulmate. These parallels between Robin and the saviour were just a convenient excuse, she reminded herself.

The thought of being sexual with Emma disgusted her. It really did. It would be laughable if it weren't so horrid. The thought of the woman cracking a wide smile—

No, gross.

Cracking a wide smile as she—

Stop, stop, stop.

As she took Regina's nipple in her mouth and—

"Absolutely not!" Regina snarled, scolding her own brain. She pressed her wrist to her breast, willing her nipple to soften so her entire body could forget the whole torturous dream sequence had ever happened.

She fell asleep quite a few minutes later with the still-hard tip nestled between her fingers.

* * *

Robin showed up late and bleary-eyed to the staff meeting. Emma could read the signs of stress well enough to know not to call him out in front of his peers, but after the meeting she had to take him into her office to have a word.

"Do you want to tell me why you think you should be exempt from showing up on time to team meetings?" she asked.

"I shouldn't be. I apologize." His eyes were less puffy than they had been an hour earlier and he seemed less harried, but she still got an agitated reading from him.

"Anything I absolutely need to know about?"

"No, Sheriff." He sighed, and Emma found her eye twitching at the familiar sound. "I suppose Regina didn't say anything this morning, but we're having some temporary difficulties. I might have to move out when I get home. I was up most of the night and I overslept."

The news came as a shock to Emma. Regina had been a bit quiet that morning, but she seemed well rested. Not like someone who was separating from her so-called true love. "Well, I'm sorry to hear about your relationship, but we all gotta leave our personal baggage at the door and do our jobs, okay?"

"So I guess you're not about to approve of my request to scan our databases for a thief with a tattoo?"

Emma frowned. "What am I missing here?"

"She said something about how she thinks the fairy dust had a mix-up, got me confused with another guy my 'type,' and she said he had a tattoo. I think she met someone else and just wants an excuse to run away from our fate together."

Emma felt for the man, she really did. It couldn't be easy to be given a happily-ever-after sentence with Regina. But this wasn't the enchanted forest, and she wasn't about to give a heartbroken dude access to confidential information just so he could enact some sort of jealous revenge fantasy. She decided to try to talk him down. "Look, even if there were a specific guy, it's not going to change anything to figure out who he is."

"I guess I just want to know if someone's trying to trick her." He looked down at the stapler on her desk. "We're meant to be together, so I don't understand how or why she would get it in her head that she should try to be with someone else. Fairy dust doesn't lie."

"Well, it might not lie, but maybe it's not the only truth out there. If there's someone else for her, there's someone else for you too."

"What if there's no one else for her and she's just dooming us both to misery?"

Emma's hope for a productive day was dwindling fast. Counseling her colleagues—counseling anyone, really—was not her forte.

"I hope that's not the case, Robin. Maybe she'll come around, or maybe she'll move on. It sucks when you're not in control, but you need to make peace with that. And if you can't, you need to at least pretend you have while you're wearing that uniform, okay?"

That oughtta do it.

He nodded and rose from his chair. Emma was just about to give herself a mental pat on the back when Robin stalled in the doorway, a question on his lips. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone with a lion tattoo, would you?"

Emma's stomach dropped. "What?"

"It's just, that's the part that sticks out for me. I wasn't just a thief-turned-justice-crusader, I was a tattooed hero with a thieving past. I can't think why she would mention the tattoo except that my lion was the one thing she knew about me from the night she learned we were meant to be together. I thought, maybe someone else with a lion tattoo has her convinced her soulmate is him instead of me. And if he's a thief, he might show up in our database. Maybe he's even dangerous. I'm just thinking of her own protection, not revenge."

Emma struggled to find words as her thoughts reeled. It couldn't be! Was this about yesterday? When Ruby mentioned the ville de lyon, Regina did get rather quiet. But there was no way Regina—REGINA—believed she was meant to be with her! As far as Emma knew, the mayor had never even been interested in women.

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Regina did stare at her chest quite a bit, for a heterosexual. "Why don't you leave it to me?" she finally said. "That way, we can make sure Regina is safe, and it isn't a conflict of interest."

She hoped.

####

She'd done a cursory search of Storybrooke's database for inked former criminals, but not one of their tattoos resembled a lion of any sort. And now she stood at the door to the diner with a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach, still at a loss as to what she might say to the woman once she had a moment alone with her.

Her anxiety spiked when she spotted the woman currently sitting alone at a booth, Henry nowhere to be seen.

"Miss Swan, there you are," Regina said, avoiding Emma's gaze as she sat down. "Henry's in the bathroom."

Regina was definitely acting strangely, but it wasn't necessarily about her, Emma reminded herself. "Hey, I heard about you and Robin," she said, trying to imagine what she might say if she wasn't afraid the woman was in love with her. "I hope you're doing okay."

Regina tsked, her eyes fixed on the door behind Emma's head, waiting for Henry. "You're just like your mother, trying to interfere in business that has nothing to do with you."

"It's condolences, Regina. That's what normal people do."

"And I'm not normal," Regina spat. "I'm going to do something _evil_ because my tender heart is broken—is that what you think?"

"Jeez," Emma said with a sigh. "I'm sorry you're feeling defensive, Regina. I hope you'll remember that I know you're not evil soon."

Henry mercifully appeared at her side a moment later, and she made up an excuse for them to leave right away. Irritated as she was by Regina's behaviour, it was reassuring to be treated so poorly by the woman. Unless Regina was actually five years old, this was not the behaviour of someone who was in love with her.

It wasn't until she was trying to fall asleep that night that she tried to rearrange the clues to Regina's odd behaviour. Tossing and turning in bed, she reviewed everything she knew about the woman, and found one disturbing fact staring her in the face: in terms of emotional maturity, Regina was actually five years old.

####

The next few days were difficult. Regina was as prickly as she'd ever been over breakfast, and Emma knew her newfound wariness around the woman was only adding to the problem. They exchanged few words over breakfast, and fewer later at the diner. Even Henry spoke more than Regina did.

And if that wasn't enough, Robin was becoming increasingly erratic at work. The separation was definitely getting to him, and he was taking it out on his coworkers. With a growing sense of dread, Emma finally invited him in to her office for a meeting.

She hadn't expected it to go well, but it had. He was calm, he apologized for his unprofessional behaviour, and he even thanked her for dealing with his shit. And so, it was with a sense of peace that Emma felt inspired to resolve the other nagging conflict in her life. She called the mayor's office and told Regina she'd like to speak to her about Henry's schoolwork, and she would prefer to do so in private.

The lie earned her an invitation to Regina's house. She knew she'd have to play her cards right, or risk offending the woman further, but she was certain direct communication would eventually lead to a more peaceable relationship between them. It always had in the past.

Emma showed up at the mayor's mansion at 5:15 exactly. Regina opened the door and nodded towards the lounge. Emma followed her in and looked around the room.

It had hardly changed since the last time she saw it, the first night she came to Storybrooke. Should she sit? That way, Regina wouldn't think she was confronting her. She desperately wanted to stand, though, in case it went horribly and she had to make a quick getaway.

She gathered her courage and sat.

Regina followed suit. "If this is about a tutor, I have an education fund set up for just such a thing," she started. She still wasn't looking at Emma directly, opting to peer out the window at the birds hopping on the grass. "What subject is he having troubles in?"

"You don't think I'm your soulmate, do you?" Emma blurted out.

That got Regina looking at her. "Excuse me?"

"You broke up with Robin after you found out my tattoo was some lion flower, and he came into work ranting about how you've left him for a former thief turned hero with a lion tattoo."

She had never seen the former Evil Queen look so horrified.

"I don't care about the decisions you make with your love life," Emma clarified. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I played any part in it. We're on the same page with that, right?"

"Miss Swan," Regina began, "frankly I'm not sure where to start. Do I think you're my soulmate?" She glared into her eyes. "No."

Emma relaxed.

"I'm sorry Robin gave you that impression," Regina continued, "as it could not be further from the truth."

Emma nodded, but something in Regina's voice rang untrue this time. She needed more information. "What's this about then, if you don't mind me asking?"

Regina seemed to make a decision before she spoke. "It is true that your similarities to Robin made me start to wonder if the fairy dust might have confused him with someone else of his type, particularly someone who wasn't around when Tinker Bell cast the spell that revealed him to be my soulmate. But I hope to hell it isn't you."

Emma was shocked, less by Regina's offensive words than the sense that they were not quite true. She struggled to find an appropriate response, eventually settling on, "Good. Because Henry would probably find that pretty confusing." Henry would. Henry. Her mind was reeling. Was her superpower failing her again? Regina _didn't_ hope to hell her soulmate wasn't Emma?

It did not help the situation one bit when Regina mused aloud, "To Henry it would make perfect sense."

"Huh?"

"Well, Henry always wants everything to have a meaning," Regina said, shaking her head. "Imagine: one lonely, untrusting woman gives birth to him, and ends up being the soulmate of the other lonely, unloving woman who raised him. You and me learning to love and trust each other would be the ultimate fairytale turnaround for Henry." Regina went quiet for a moment, a look of enlightenment ominously dawning on her features. "You and I _are_ always stronger together. The saviour and the evil queen, soulmates…."

The panic rising in Emma's throat was almost at the point where she knew she would start screaming soon. Horror movie screaming. "Regina! You can't just script out our lives together because it would make a good story for Henry!"

Regina snapped out of her trance and smiled. "I know that, dear. I'm simply stating that it does make an unreasonable amount of sense, thematically."

Emma shuddered. "Look, you said it yourself: you don't want to be with me. What is with this fixation on themes and magic fairy dust? Can't anyone in this town just do something because they want to? I mean, are you even into women?"

"I never considered women. Perhaps that was an oversight." Regina squinted at her. "Have you ever been with a woman?"

Emma blanched. "Regina, I'm not your soulmate."

"You didn't answer the question, dear."

Emma stood. Regina smiled brightly at her as she passed through the door of the lounge, as though she'd won the exchange. All Emma could do was level a glare at her and call out, "Henry, we're going."

* * *

Regina balled her hands into fists, trying to dispel the tension she felt throughout her body. It was all well and good to tease Emma Swan about the possibility of being soulmates, but she hadn't meant to convince herself in the process. It had all started to make far too much sense.

Looking back, even when she'd hated the saviour, she'd reveled in every single moment they'd spent with each other. Emma was basically the female version of Robin, if every annoying thing he did had also been compelling. If every fault of his had also made her want to expose a fault of her own until they were both stripped of their defenses, breathing heavily in one another's personal space.

She shook her head. She didn't want it to be Emma. There was so much about the woman that still got on her nerves—never mind the fact that she was a woman—but, she reasoned, this reticence would subside if they were really meant to be together.

"Out of the frying pan, into the fire," she muttered.

There was no stopping it now. She'd found the flaw in the fate she'd been prescribed and she had to follow it to its conclusion. All she needed now was for Emma to play along.

####

She showed up at Emma's apartment the next morning with what she hoped was a congenial smile on her face. A smile that faded when Mulan answered the door in Emma's stead.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked, angrier than she'd intended.

Without flinching, Mulan answered, "Emma's not here. Something came up at the station." She gestured to the kitchen. "I was told you would make breakfast when you arrived."

Regina took in the woman's messy hair and pajama pants and was surprised to find a burning hatred radiating from her heart. "That is _not_ what I asked," she seethed.

Mulan frowned, then flushed when she noticed Regina's eyes raking over her sleeping outfit. "Oh," she said. "You think I'm sleeping with Emma."

Regina almost started yelling, but she had been practicing keeping calm when confronted with great strain. It had come in handy in nearly all of her conversations with Robin over the last year. She took a moment to process not only the words Mulan had said, but how she had said them, and concluded that Mulan was not sleeping with Emma. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in.

"Of course I don't think you're sleeping together," she said, masking her jealousy by rooting through the fridge. "That would be ridiculous."

To her surprise, the warrior woman actually broke her stoic facade and shook her head. Judging from her pursed lips, she was… hurt?

Regina was taken aback. "Only because Emma doesn't seem like the type to mix business and pleasure," she clarified. A lie, she reminded herself: Emma had kissed Graham. She felt a shocking wave of satisfaction wash over her at the memory of crushing his heart.

Mulan didn't look appeased. "Don't bother. Everyone in this town seems to think I would make a ridiculous match with anyone."

Regina fiddled with the dials on the stove. "You and Emma aren't together, though, right?"

"How would you feel if we were?" Mulan asked. "Why is it any of your business anyway?"

Regina spun to face her, unsure of what lie she might yell at the woman to make her stop questioning her and give her some goddamned answers already. But when she stared into Mulan's eyes, the warrior's face softened.

"Oh," Mulan said, the hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth. "So that's why Robin was…." Her eyebrows raised. "So I'm not alone here, I guess."

Regina groaned and turned her attention back to the stove. "I have no idea what you could mean by that."

"You were jealous when you saw me here because you are in love with Emma and you worried that I might be your competition."

"That is not true."

"I'm not your competition. I'm your company."

The pitying tone rankled her, but she felt the relief all the same. She looked over at Mulan—her tousled hair and form-fitting shirt—and felt a jolt of confusion. Did Mulan have any sort of lion-related tattoo? No, don't be silly, she scolded herself. This warrior didn't make sense as part of her story.

"It's not that I'm in love with her," Regina finally confided, prodding at the eggs aimlessly. "It's that the fairy dust made a mistake—accidentally or intentionally I don't yet know. I've come to the conclusion that Emma is the one I'm meant to be with, but nobody seems ready to handle that fact but me."

Mulan smiled. "I know that feeling all too well. I felt the same way about Aurora, but she had other ideas."

"You were blinded by love for Aurora," Regina stated. "This is different. I have reason on my side."

"Reason has nothing to do with true love."

Regina raised an eyebrow at Mulan and smirked. "And how is blind devotion working out for you?"

Mulan scowled. "If you're not in love with her, why do you want to be with her? Why were you jealous of me?"

"I wasn't jealous," Regina insisted. "I was deciding how I might remove you if you turned out to be in my way."

"But you don't even want to be with her. What's the point?"

"If she's my soulmate, then I'm meant to be with her."

"You thought Robin was your soulmate, and I never saw you care this much about being with him."

Regina was saved from having to think too long about that by the appearance of Henry on the stairs. Mulan tsked in disappointment at the boy's timing, but filled him in on his other mother's whereabouts. He grunted and sidled up to the counter awaiting the breakfast Regina had spliced together.

Regina did her best to avoid Mulan's gaze until Henry was ready to leave for school. She almost made it out of the apartment without exchanging any further words with the warrior, but Mulan caught her arm before she could follow Henry out the door.

"It's not hopeless, you know," she whispered.

Regina gave her a blank stare and eyed the fingers on her arm.

Mulan removed her hand and added, "Emma. It's not hopeless. I got a vibe from her before that I wasn't, you know, _alone_. She's not my type, but if she's yours you should pursue her. Just don't do it if you're not actually interested in having an intimate relationship with a woman."

Stunned at the woman's forthrightness, Regina simply nodded and left.

Dammit, she cursed to herself as she descended the stairs. She'd never been interested in women before, but did that matter? She was interested now.

If she wanted to pursue Emma she would have to find a way to convince her that she was her soulmate, but how? Emma hadn't even believed in her own destiny until she'd already fulfilled it.

"What an idiot," she said to herself, smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's note: **Thanks for your reviews, everyone! This is my first fic and it's been so rewarding to see how many people are enjoying the story!_

* * *

Emma took another giant gulp of her tepid coffee. It had been an awful night. Mulan had called at midnight to report that Robin had been involved in a scuffle outside the diner. Not great PR for the department, but Emma wasn't too worried until her deputy added that the off-duty officer had used his town-issued handcuffs to chain a nun to a stop sign. Thankfully, Mulan was as much of a loner as Emma, and had no problem coming over in case Henry woke up before she returned home.

She glanced at the car clock.

Henry was definitely up now. Regina was definitely at her apartment.

She blushed as she imagined what Regina might think, seeing Mulan at her house so early. Not that she hadn't thought of it herself a few times when the two of them had ended up on stakeout duty together. But, as with most of the normal, decent, dateable people in her life, Emma felt no chemistry with Mulan. Probably because the woman was still hung up on that vapid princess, Aurora.

Her thoughts turned to Regina. She did have chemistry with Regina—no denying that. But she'd had chemistry with Neal, and that hadn't saved their relationship!

On second thought, she hadn't actually had chemistry with Neal.

Hook, maybe?

She frowned. Was Regina really the only person she'd ever had chemistry with?

Bad self esteem and bad choices in her early twenties had made her quite a few passionate bedmates, but chemistry was more complicated than passion, and she'd never let any of them become anything more regrettable than one night stands.

She shook her head. That didn't mean she needed to let Regina become something regrettable. The woman was attractive, yes. And sure, she was something of a compelling mystery, this complement to her own life. Her son's other mother.

She shrugged out of her stupor when the Mother Superior opened the door to the convent to put out the signboard.

_Believe_, it said.

Emma groaned and got out of the car.

"Mother Superior?" she called. The nun took no notice of her, so she stuffed down her fairytale garbage cynicism and called out, "Blue!"

That got the fairy's attention. She stood at the top of the steps, waiting until Emma was within a normal conversational range before responding. "Sheriff Swan, do we have an appointment?"

"No, but I have a few questions after last night's incident. I was hoping I could speak to Tink about what happened. And, uh," she sighed, "I guess I have a few questions for you as well."

Blue plastered on a disturbing smile and invited Emma in. The woman had always been a bit sketchy in Emma's opinion, in nun or fairy form, and today she appeared to be no different. She followed her into her office and took a seat in the chair across from her desk.

"We will not be pressing charges," Blue announced.

Emma waited for her to add further information, but it seemed that was all the nun had to say. "I'd like to speak to Tinker Bell, get an idea of what exactly happened."

"I'm sure Officer Hood will be capable of answering those questions himself," Blue stated. "I would rather not have Green relive the incident for your amusement."

Emma scowled. "It's not for my amusement. It's for my investigation."

"We will not be pressing charges," Blue repeated. "That is the end of our involvement in your investigation."

Emma laughed. "Listen, lady, if one of my officers is chaining up nuns without provocation, I need to know so I can make sure it doesn't happen again. Robin says he mistook Tinker Bell for King George, a wanted criminal more than twice her size."

"Well, from what I hear, he was quite drunk."

"I can tell when I'm being lied to."

"Am I lying to you, Sheriff?" the fairy asked.

"Not yet."

"Then I suggest you take the answers I've given you and leave me to get some work done."

Emma took a deep breath. She hadn't wanted to press this matter before she got to the second thing, but something was definitely going on here and she needed more information. "Is that your Explorer in the parking lot?"

"My explorer?" Blue asked.

"Your car. Is your car not a black Ford Explorer? Did you not drive to the diner to pick up Tinker Bell last night in the black Ford Explorer I see sitting in the parking lot?"

The fairy barely flinched. "When one of my number is in distress, I bring them home."

"And when you went to pick up your 'number,' did you exchange words with Officer Hood?"

"Of course I did. He had handcuffed Green to a post."

"See, because Robin wasn't in Storybrooke when King George went on the lam. He's not on that case, and as far as I knew he has never seen a picture of the king." Emma kept a poker face, but she was really enjoying watching the nun try to maintain her own calm façade. "Did you advise my officer to say he believed Tinker Bell to be King George?"

"Sheriff, I think it's time for you to leave," Blue stated. She stood from her chair and opened her office door.

"Seriously?" Emma scoffed. "You know this makes you look just as guilty as if you answered and I knew you were lying." She rose and walked up to the fairy. "I have another question for you."

"You want answers?" Blue challenged. "Get a warrant."

"It's not about last night," Emma said with a grin. She wondered if she might get the fairy's mask to crumble with her next question. "Does fairy dust discriminate against homosexuality?"

She scanned the fairy's face for a reaction and noticed a slight twitch under her left eye.

"Fairy dust is infallible," Blue said through gritted teeth. She moved out of the door frame and shut the door in Emma's face.

Emma tilted her head, unsure of how to take that answer. She mulled over the possibilities as she walked back to her car. Her superpower didn't always work, but there was an edge behind the fairy's words. As much as she didn't want to give Regina's crack theory any credit, it did now seem plausible that the fairies were homophobic, or maybe even the puppeteers of some grand conspiracy.

The interview hadn't exactly cleared up what role the fairies had had in last night's scuffle. Common sense told her this was about Robin and Regina. That much was obvious, even before Mulan told her the person Robin had fought with was the fairy who'd cast the spell that named the two of them soulmates. Blue's involvement was the most puzzling. Emma was sure Robin's King George excuse had come from Blue, the only one of them who was in Storybrooke when he'd committed his crimes—but why would she want to help Robin after he had attacked one of her own? And why would he recite the excuse his victim's boss told him to use? They were clearly working together, but toward what end?

The instant she got into her car, she grabbed for the hours-old coffee cup, groaning to find it empty. It was going to be a long day, and probably an even longer night. If Robin and the fairies were keeping something from her, it was entirely possible that a plot was underway. That meant Regina was in danger. She knew that if she told her, the crazy woman would probably try to take on her enemies herself, but she needed more information.

She would need to do another stakeout.

####

Shadowing Regina felt wrong, but, not knowing whether she could be targeted by Robin or a fairy, it was safest to stick close to the potential victim and meet any threats as they arose. After catching a quick daytime nap, she followed the woman from the mayor's office to the school, where a sullen-looking Henry momentarily brightened when the woman greeted him.

Emma smiled as she watched Regina pry information from him about his day. She seemed to be able to get him to string more than a grunt and two words together at a time, which was more than Emma could say for her parenting skills.

It had been Henry's choice to stay with Emma, and she'd always considered it a trust issue. He trusted her, he didn't trust Regina. But there was a marked difference between his interactions with Regina and his interactions with her. Watching them, it was clear Regina was Henry's mother. She was certain her own relationship with the boy was closer akin to friendship than anything else. But did that really matter? He felt safer with her than he did with Regina.

Across the street, Henry laughed out loud at something Regina said. It had been ages since Emma had made—or even seen—Henry laugh so hard.

Puzzling.

She watched, stunned, as the pair chatted their way through ice cream cones. Her one consolation was the critical look on the kid's face when Regina tried to get him to eat a piece of fruit she'd been carrying in her purse. Other than that, Henry seemed perfectly comfortable with Regina.

Aside from the mysterious relationship between her son and his other mother, Emma hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. As far as she could tell, the two were not being followed by anyone but her.

In the diner, the two were more solemn, possibly because Mary Margaret had beaten them there. Emma usually arrived at least thirty minutes later, giving them time to have a snack and some hot cocoa.

Emma shook her head. She'd told her mother to pick Henry up at 5:15, not before. Mary Margaret really had no idea how her actions affected anyone but her. How in the hell was she the most beloved princess of Fairytale Land? Emma wondered if Snow White's interactions with peasants just never lasted long enough to build up their trust then let them down with an inevitable selfish act.

To Emma's surprise, Regina seemed to be smiling at Mary Margaret. They were chatting like two gals catching up over coffee. Henry finally looked like his usual bored self, but the two women were really getting along. Emma grimaced. If she was honest with herself, she had kind of been hoping to catch a gleam in Regina's eye, a hint that her smile was cruel and that she was delivering one of her devastating one-liners to the new mom.

Out of guilt, she had to berate herself. It was good that Regina had moved on, and Mary Margaret didn't need another person making her feel like crap right now.

Even if she might deserve it.

Emma followed Regina home after she left the diner, wondering what other surprises the woman might have in store for her.

As it turned out, nothing.

The next day followed in just the same manner. And the next. The weekend was more interesting. Emma had no idea Regina and Mulan were friends, but there they were at the diner, sipping hot drinks and chatting.

What were they talking about? Was it about liking women? Was Mulan her mentor now? Or maybe Emma had inadvertently distracted Regina with her deputy, and Mulan was her new new soulmate.

Did Mulan have a lion-related tattoo, too?

As she slowly made her way through her second thermos of coffee later that night, she started to question the reason she was following Regina. Did she truly believe the woman was in danger? Was it possible she was following her because she was curious about her personal life?

If the second were true, this was a gross abuse of her station as Sheriff.

Thankfully she didn't have long to sit in her car, questioning her own motives. There were definitely two figures moving around in the mayor's backyard.

* * *

Regina had had a great week, despite the fact that Emma Swan was very obviously avoiding her. Mulan's insipid pep talk last Tuesday had been, in all actuality, encouraging. The warrior was proving an excellent ally in Operation Emma, and it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if she appeared at breakfast again in the coming week.

Her afternoons with Henry made her feel as though their relationship was developing, too. He was always in better spirits in the afternoons than he was in the mornings, and his newfound moodiness made it much easier to relate to him than when he was a fresh-faced young idealist. She still had to pick and choose what she told him, but he was finally interested in learning her side of the story.

Better than that was his thinly veiled contempt at his biological grandparents. The Charmings' decision to replace Emma with a new baby had rubbed him the wrong way, finally prompting him to vent his frustrations to Regina and to listen to the stories she had to tell about the two idiots.

She still couldn't bring herself to tell him about what Snow had done to Cora's heart. She knew all too well what an excess of righteous indignation lead to, and she wasn't about to place that burden on her son.

As satisfying as it was to get to watch Henry ignore Snow every day at the diner, it was even more gratifying to learn how much her former nemesis was struggling with the new baby. Although Regina had become accustomed to referring to the baby as Emma Number Two in Henry's presence, she managed to navigate the series of Snow's requests for advice with aplomb, never once forgetting the baby's actual name.

She was so pleased with the state of the world, she had started cackling again. She had missed having a good cackle. She tried not to diminish her glee with the pesky thought that Henry's default caretakers while Emma was busy were the neglectful Charmings and a friendly coworker instead of her, Henry's actual mother. But, of course, trying to avoid thinking about it meant the thought was already there, deflating her.

Damn. Now she was angry and resentful again.

She turned on the television, filling the house with noise as she prepared her dinner for one. The programs on television were never great, but they were enough to take her mind off her troubles for the few hours she had left to stay awake before bedtime.

Bored at ten, she made her way up the stairs to get ready for bed when she heard a noise at the back of the house. Her eyes sparkled. Trespassers made fantastic distractions.

Who was it this time? One of her old heart-controlled minions, out for vengeance? A crazed acolyte of Snow White, hell-bent on protecting the princess from her old foe? Another former peasant, displeased with their newfound status as Safeway manager when they could be back in the Enchanted Forest, chopping heads off chickens?

She was not prepared to find Emma Swan in her backyard, holding a handful of flowers.

####

"Emma?" Regina called. Her heart raced. "Are you here in the middle of the night to bring me—" That's when she noticed the flowers were a bit limp. And dirty. It wasn't a bouquet at all, but a clump torn from a patch of her own flowerbed. Her own _trampled_ flowerbed. "What in the hell are you doing?"

"Regina, get back inside, but don't close the door yet. Stay where I can see you." Emma knelt next to the flowerbed again and examined the dirt around the trampled flowers. Regina looked around the yard, but could find nothing amiss except the pit in her garden that the idiot was making worse. She was still inspiring Regina's heart to flutter, for god knows what reason. "Someone was just in your yard. I think they may have cast some sort of spell here."

"It was probably just an animal. Ever since the first curse broke, most of the dog owners around here have trained their mongrels to use my garden as their personal toilet."

Emma let a chunk of something drop from her hands with disgust. "It was more than that," she insisted, rising from the ground. "There were people back here."

"Alright," Regina conceded, "now I know it's not just the dogs using my garden as a toilet. Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention, Sheriff." Regina smiled, barely biting back more cackling at the look of horror on the sheriff's face. "Would you like to come in and wash your hands, or are you on your way back to the important police work that's kept you so busy lately?"

Holding her hands in front of her in disgust, Emma squeaked out, "I'd like to wash my hands please."

Once Emma washed and emerged from the bathroom, Regina felt a spark of excitement. The heady feeling of a clandestine encounter warmed her body. Here was her actual soulmate, standing across the room from her in an otherwise empty house. She let the silence between them stand, preferring to soak up the intoxicating air of the moment before it was ruined with logical explanations.

When Emma looked as though she were about to offer a reason as to why she was touching mystery poo in her backyard, Regina spoke first. "Would you like a glass of cider? Wine? Or, are you actually on duty?"

Emma huffed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Regina. I didn't mean to interrupt your night. I saw two people moving around your yard, and it looked like they were up to something so I came to check it out. They must have heard me and run off."

Regina prickled. "So that's what you've been doing? Spying on me?" She winced and shook her head. "I thought you said you knew I wasn't evil—"

"Regina, you're not the suspect," Emma interrupted. "I was worried that someone was going to try to hurt you, so I wanted to keep an eye on you tonight. That's all."

"That's all?" Regina asked, her heart skipping. Her whole life, Emma Swan was the only one who had ever tried to protect her.

Her lips tingled. She wanted desperately to kiss the woman standing across the room. Even so, she flinched when Emma started walking toward her. Was tonight the right time for their first kiss?

Apparently not.

Emma walked by her and grabbed for the door. "Sorry to have bothered you."

Regina reached for the woman's arm, still well defined under the soft red leather. "Am I safe, then?" she mumbled, her fingers distracted by the warm body layers beneath her touch. "Whoever wanted to hurt me—are they still out there?"

Emma looked down at Regina's hand, but it was a different look from the one Regina had cast at Mulan when she'd dared to touch her arm. This look was accompanied by a short intake of breath and a parting of the lips. Reading the signs, Regina knew at once that what Mulan had said was true—that there was hope.

"I don't know," Emma answered, her voice softer than before.

"Well," Regina said, her hand pulling Emma marginally further from the door as it traveled down her arm, "will you stay then?"

Emma flushed. Who knew she would be so much easier to read when she was aroused?

"No, I should go," Emma mumbled, easing her arm out of Regina's grasp.

Regina couldn't afford to smirk. She had to play this moment right. She didn't respond until the woman's eyes were drawn to hers. She cast her gaze momentarily on Emma's lips, then nodded down at the ground to say, "Okay. But you'll be out there?" Back to Emma's eyes, brow furrowed. "If anything happens?"

Emma closed her eyes and smiled. "Regina…"

Ah, she was onto her. Regina dropped the act and let a smile spread across her face, but her eyes never once left the saviour's lips.

"I'll be out there," Emma said with a sigh.

Now that she'd won, Regina adopted her businesslike tone again to ask, "You're not going to tell me who you think is trying to hurt me, are you?"

Emma's eyes searched hers before she answered, "Nope."

This charming little idiot was clever.

Regina walked across the room and pulled open a drawer. She drew out a key and passed it to Emma.

"If you ever really need to come rescue me, here's a key."

Emma held the key in her hand for a moment before passing it back. "If I need to get into your house, Regina, I'll just break down the door."

Regina was speechless.

How could such a boorish statement make her whole body swell with arousal? Was that Emma's version of flirting? Or was Emma toying with her, letting her know she refused to be manipulated?

Emma nodded at the door as she opened it to leave. "Make sure you lock this."

Flustered, Regina turned the bolt on the door as soon as it closed.

She wasn't too troubled by the prospect of being stalked by persons unknown—she certainly didn't need to depend on anyone else to protect herself. But she was troubled by that interaction with Emma. She'd meant to instill desire in the other woman, but Emma had left her house not only in control of her own arousal, but Regina's too. What did it mean?

Also, was it completely inappropriate to touch herself when she knew Emma was outside, watching from her car?

Overwhelmed at that thought, Regina made her way upstairs. After a battle with indecision, she settled on leaving the curtains to her room closed. Better to leave some things to the imagination.

* * *

Emma's heart had nearly relaxed into a rhythm she was comfortable with when Regina appeared in her upstairs window. A noise in the car caught her off-guard until she realized it was coming from her own throat.

Relax, she told herself. Regina has always been alluring to you—first as a nemesis, and now as an incredibly attractive sexually available woman. Just because you apparently want to watch her get undressed, stick your fingers in her mouth, and fuck her with them until she screams your name in your ear, it doesn't mean you should. Or that she's your soulmate.

She breathed out.

There was that libido-crushing, responsibility-laden word again. Soulmate. True love. Your match. Your happy ending. She thought briefly of massage parlance and blushed again. Soulmate, soulmate, soulmate. Magically ordained soulmate.

The term wasn't having its usual effect, possibly because Regina had closed the curtains and was most certainly undressing behind them.

She noticed her hand on the door handle and removed it. She would not get out of her car. It was a bad idea to go back to the house. She looked at the front door and thanked her past self for handing the house key back to Regina. She nodded in self-congratulation and took a deep breath.

She could still break the door down.

Regina would run down the stairs then, half undressed, full of questions Emma would stop her from asking….

She was really having a difficult time controlling her heart rate.

It had been quite a few years since she'd taken a woman to bed. Like all of the lovers from that time in her life, the sex had been spontaneous and just exciting enough to distract her from thinking about her life. Now she needed something to distract her from thinking about sex—a problem she thought was reserved for characters in teen comedy movies but was presently proving its application to real life.

She had always enjoyed the sensation that greeted her fingers between a woman's legs. Wet and warm, an intricate puzzle that could only be solved by reading the swells of the woman's body, the noises coming from her mouth.

She hummed in appreciation, and it took a moment for her to realize she was holding two fingers of one hand in the fist of her other.

She quickly spread her fingers out and gripped the steering wheel in front of her. She focused her attention on the grounds surrounding the house and thought of all the shitty things Regina had done to her in the past. Shitty little reasons they should never be together, even for one night.

Every five seconds, she would check the gap in the curtains, hoping to catch a glimpse of something beautiful.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note:** A bit of a long chapter, but things are starting to heat up! Hope you like it!_

* * *

Now that Regina knew Emma had been shadowing her, there was no reason for Emma to stay in her car as the other woman enjoyed breakfast in her apartment. She might have preferred to, though, after last night.

Regina had read Emma's attraction to her as soon as she had felt it herself. Emma was proud of the way in which she had turned the tables on the seductress, but she was disappointed that she had given anything away in the first place. Now Regina would be insufferable. She was always at her worst when she thought she was winning.

Once in her apartment, Emma avoided the woman by taking a very long shower, but in her sleep-deprived state, she had neglected the obvious fact that Henry would need to use the bathroom before he left. Crossing the dining room in a towel in front of Regina was the opposite of how she had wanted the morning to go, but it wasn't the most challenging part.

That came when Mulan suggested that she could take Henry to school, leaving Regina and Emma alone to talk.

"I do have some questions about your current investigation," the mayor explained.

Emma struggled for words. She couldn't be alone with her right now. She needed a reason Regina had to leave. She had a list of reasons. She'd spent the night making reasons. Reasons she needed to write down before they all slipped away from her under the woman's determined gaze.

"At the park," was all that came out.

Regina raised an eyebrow. Condescending—that was one! Condescending, condescending.

"I'll have answers by then. Thursday, when you bring Henry for his babysitting gig," she tried to elaborate. "I'll meet you there after school gets out and we can chat while Henry takes the kid around the park."

Mercifully, Regina agreed and the house cleared out, leaving Emma alone at last. There were a few slight distinctions between being alone in the house and spending the night alone in her car, the most important of which was privacy. She scurried to the door to lock it and, though she'd never done so before today, she checked that there was no view of her bed from the street outside. She usually needed a while to get into the mood in the morning, but Regina's voice was still echoing up the stairwell when her fingers found their rhythm.

* * *

"Nice touch," Mulan said, eyeing the bouquet in Regina's arms the next morning.

Regina smirked and rummaged through Emma's cupboards until she found something resembling a vase. She placed the bouquet on the counter and admired her handiwork.

"Sorry yesterday didn't turn out," Mulan said, readying the plates and pans for what was becoming an increasingly elaborate breakfast coordination ritual.

Regina adjusted a flower. "It did."

"You got a moment alone with her? When?"

"The point wasn't to get a moment alone with her," Regina said with a smile, taking up her station at the stove. "The point was to remind her that I am trying to seduce her."

Mulan reached past her to grab the spice box from the top of the stove. "I thought you were trying to convince her she's your soulmate."

"Ah, you don't know her as well as I do. Miss Swan needs to want to believe something is true before she'll accept that it is."

Mulan nodded. "Well, if it helps, I put in a good word for you when she ducked into the station yesterday."

Regina turned to the woman, rapt. "What did you say?"

"Nothing too obvious," Mulan said with a shrug. "I told her you made the best breakfasts."

Regina smiled and eyed the breakfast cooking on the stove. Now that Emma was returning to her apartment before Henry left for school, she could taste it for herself.

"That did have some unintended consequences, though," Mulan added, rubbing her cheek.

"Like what?"

"I had to give Robin a black eye."

Regina was stunned. Before she could decide between mirth and incredulity, Mulan continued.

"I went out to my squad car, and he followed me and attacked me. Kept asking where my tattoo was."

"He thinks _we're_ together?" Regina asked. It didn't make sense. Why would he suspect that her soulmate was a woman? "I never told him I was leaving him for a woman."

Mulan shrugged.

"He should be suspended for attacking you," Regina advised her.

"No. I dealt with it, and I feel bad for him. He's going through a hard time. I'm used to a few cuts and bruises. Doesn't hurt much."

Regina looked closely at her friend, noticing the scrapes on her cheek for the first time. They had looked so appropriate on the warrior's face that she hadn't thought to question how fresh they were. She felt an acute swell of rage.

"Robin thrives on pity," she spat. "That's how he gets through life." She stepped closer to Mulan and brushed the woman's hair out of her face so she could examine the wound more closely. It wasn't serious, but she still wished she could heal it with her magic. She felt partially to blame. "You should tell Emma."

The door closed behind them. "Tell me what?"

Regina stepped away from Mulan and finished the breakfast preparations.

Her friend sighed. "Officer Hood may be in need of some disciplinary leave."

"I've been thinking the same thing," the tired sheriff said, sidling up to the counter.

Regina put a plate of food in front of Emma and was shocked to recognize the key to her house in the woman's hand.

"I was on my way here when I saw his beat-up truck heading towards your place," Emma explained. "I confronted him when he came out of the house and he said he was just picking up his gym bag. I couldn't arrest him because technically you gave him an open invitation by giving him this key, but I made him hand it over. I suggest you change your locks." She picked up her fork and dug into the food. "Thanks for the breakfast, you two."

Regina squinted at her. "So Robin is the reason you've been staking out my house?" She smiled. "You think I'm in actual danger from Robin Hood? He's a thief—and he doesn't go to the gym, so I'll have to figure out what he's been stealing from my house. But you're mistaken if you think that little man can harm me."

Emma sighed and put down her fork. "Look, I didn't want to say anything until I had some definitive proof, but I'm worried that he's working with the fairies." Regina frowned, and Emma elaborated. "Blue, Tinker Bell, and Robin. They've all been hiding something and covering for each other, and I think it has to do with you."

Regina chuckled. "Well, would you look at that? My false soulmate is conspiring with the fairies who orchestrated our pairing, one of whom has always had a personal vendetta against me." She paused briefly before amending, "Actually, it's possible that Tink hates me too. Or maybe even never liked me..."

"Well, maybe you wouldn't be in this mess if you were more likeable," Emma snapped. "Think about that."

Regina smiled. Emma was so cute when she was being petulant. "You like me," she teased. "That's enough for me."

"This is serious, Regina. I don't know what Robin was doing in your house. He may have been stealing something, but he may have left something behind, too. Something magic, from the Blue Fairy. Something that could hurt you."

"Are you saying I should stay here tonight?" Regina asked, the straight face she was attempting crumbling at the sight of Mulan rolling her eyes.

Emma glared at both of them. "You two seem to be getting along so well, why don't you stay at Mulan's?"

"No," Mulan objected. "I am not having another coworker take out their jealousy on me." She left the kitchen and put on her coat, leaving Emma and Regina stricken at her sudden change in mood. "You're soulmates. A conspiracy threatens to keep you apart, but you overcome an unnamed danger together and find love in one another's arms. Get over it and find me when you're less nauseating."

"What's her problem?" Emma asked after the door slammed shut.

"She doesn't have a soulmate yet."

Emma leveled a glare at her, but she didn't insist she wasn't her soulmate this time. Progress.

"What was Mulan talking about?" Henry croaked as he clomped down the stairs. "Are you guys in love or something?"

"No!" Emma said.

"Maybe a little," Regina answered.

"You're not in love with me," Emma argued. "You just think you're supposed to be. It's not the same."

Henry groaned in the background and shuffled into the bathroom while Regina thought about what Emma said.

"I did think I was supposed to be," she admitted. "I thought you were supposed to be in love with me, too. I made it a challenge." She reached over the counter and touched Emma's hand. "The thing is, Emma, I think I do love you. I love all the challenges you and I have posed to each other. I love every moment of every silly conversation, and I love who I've become because of what I've learned from being with you." She took a moment to sigh and blink the moisture from her eyes. "I love playing with you, and if I'm honest, this is the type of relationship I'd look for even if I got to choose my soulmate myself."

"Why are you saying this?" Emma murmured, withdrawing her hand. "I get the feeling you're trying to get me to fall in love with you just so you can test out your theory."

Regina tilted her head and grinned. "Is it working?"

"Ugh!" Emma groaned, pushing away from the counter.

Henry emerged once more, determined to ignore them both as he ate his breakfast. Regina kissed him on the top of his head and chuckled, her eyes sparkling as they followed Emma into the bathroom. She didn't even flinch when the blonde slammed the door.

* * *

As was apparently now standard for her morning fantasies, Emma kept imagining Regina running back up the stairs, barging into the apartment to grab something Henry left behind, and finding her in bed, her fingers deep inside herself. As soon as she imagined the look of desire on the woman's face, she would come, and she would soon after succumb to sleep. She was moments away from the part where Regina would find her when a knock came at the door.

"Good feelings gone!" she said to herself, jumping out of bed and searching for her shower towel amongst the clothes on the floor.

The knock came again, this time followed by a voice that made Emma blush and cringe all at once.

"Emma? It's me," Regina called through the door. "I've left my purse, and my car keys are in it. I know you're still in there."

Shoddily wrapping the towel around herself, Emma scampered to the door and unlocked it, fully prepared to find the scheming woman with a smirk on her face. The look Regina gave her was more like something from a nightmare than her fantasy—shocked and embarrassed.

"Sorry to interrupt," Regina mumbled as she cast her eyes around the room for her handbag.

Emma felt a wave of disappointment settle over her, followed by anger. Who did this woman think she was fooling? She talked big and she knew how to instill desire in others, but when it came down to it, Regina didn't actually desire her.

Overcome with resentment, Emma said nothing, allowing Regina to grab her bag and scurry out of the apartment without exchanging further words. She rested her head against the door and listened for the sound of heels descending the stairs. Nothing came. Regina was still standing outside the door. Emma's fingers paused on the door bolt, and she took a step back, leaving it unlocked. She let the towel fall to the floor as her hand traveled back down her body.

"The door's unlocked, Regina," she called out. "You like our little challenges, here's one: open it."

She imagined the woman's hand on the doorknob, compelled to turn it and push the door open, imagined Regina in her sleek black coat, throwing her bag to the ground and reaching for Emma's body, imagined the woman's warm mouth on her cold naked breasts, her hands frantic to replace Emma's own, her fingers slipping into Emma before her mouth traveled down to join them.

Emma knew her breathing was getting louder, her voice escaping her throat as she pictured the incorrigible woman outside her door in front of her on her knees, humming against her with desire, pulling her down on top of her, careless of the wet marks she would leave against her still-buttoned coat as she pressed against her, so close they might never come apart.

She wanted to feel Regina's teeth on her neck, her own naked back against the cold wooden floor, she wanted the woman to abandon her heels as she struggled for better traction against the floorboards, pushing into Emma harder, fucking her—

The sound of heels on the stairs outside broke her concentration.

Regina had left.

Emma removed her hand from between her legs with a sigh, bitterly unfulfilled.

####

Emma had hoped Regina would have the good sense to leave her alone with Henry at the park after that, but there she was on Thursday afternoon, waiting on a bench with an extra cup of cocoa for Emma.

It didn't help that Emma was still mildly sleep deprived, having stubbornly continued her stakeout of the woman's house, despite Regina's flippancy about the danger she was in. Without an appropriate fantasy to get her relaxed enough to sleep after she came home, she'd spent nearly an hour tossing and turning in bed each morning, still fuming over Regina's rejection. And now here she was, with only four hours of sleep under her belt, enduring silent moments on a bench with hot cocoa and an infuriating woman.

"You haven't been at breakfast," Regina started.

"Don't talk to me, Regina." Emma's eyes remained focused on Henry, gently pushing her parents' replacement baby on the kiddie swing. "Henry!" she called. "Not any higher than that, okay?"

"He knows," Regina told her.

"I know!" he yelled, scowling.

Emma could feel her irritation growing, so she stood from the bench and walked a few feet away from Regina.

"It's not that I didn't want to, Emma," Regina spoke, just loud enough for her to hear.

She spun to face the woman, seething. "Drop it, Regina. This whole act. Just drop it."

"Do you know how many people I've had sex with?"

Emma turned away from her again. "I don't care."

"Neither do I. That's my point." Emma shook her head, and Regina continued. "You are different, Emma. You're special."

She was good, Emma thought. Her voice actually sounded emotional.

"I believe you are my soulmate, and I love our story," Regina said.

She was really throwing that word around.

"I want our story to continue naturally," she added, her voice low and broken like it always was when she was genuinely confiding in Emma. "I like flirting with you but I don't want to just jump into bed with you because we're going to end up together anyway and we might as well get started."

"But that's exactly what you're doing with every other thing!" Emma interrupted, mentally reprimanding her heartstrings for allowing themselves to be tugged by the woman's voice. "You want our story to continue naturally? Why don't we go back to barely putting up with each other and just see where that takes us? You've decided I'm your soulmate, you've decided that you suddenly love me out of nowhere—"

"I see your point, but the fact is—"

"No!" Emma shouted. "This is bullshit, Regina. And, you know what," she added, chucking her unfinished cocoa in the trash, "I don't give a damn if it _is_ a conspiracy. You're not my soulmate, and you know why? Because _I_ decided you aren't."

High on the thrill of finally telling Regina off, Emma stormed over to Henry on the other side of the park. She grabbed the car seat off the baby's stroller and marched back to her car to install it. The sooner Henry and the littlest Charming were in the car, the sooner she could leave Regina behind.

Fiddling with the tangled web of safety straps on the car seat wasn't helping her mood at all. Lying prostrate across the back seat of the car, her legs sticking out of the door, swearing a blue streak, she didn't hear the giant sports car until it was too late.

She looked up and her whole body went still at the sight of the hunk of metal speeding straight towards her.

It was upon her.

She felt like she was disintegrating.

The world went purple.

####

She was lying on the grass in front of the bench in Regina's arms, Henry's hoarse voice calling her name, getting closer.

Emma looked down at her legs. They looked like they were intact, but she couldn't be sure. She both felt and didn't feel the impact of the car on her body. The pain was there and not there. She tried to turn her neck at the sound of the sports car peeling away, but it hurt to move. She could only look up, where she saw the twisted expression on Regina's face as she passed her hand to the right. She heard the sound of a car crashing into trees down the road, heard the screech of folding metal as Regina's hand squeezed into a fist.

"Mom, stop!" Henry called, only feet away.

"They hit her!" Regina cried, the high-pitched worry in her voice quickly melting into something vengefully low. "They hit Emma, and then they tried to run." Her fist squeezed tighter, and Emma heard the car crunching in the distance.

"Don't kill them," Henry pleaded, finally close enough to grab Regina's hand, unfolding her fingers. "You don't know who's in that car, and you don't know why they did this."

The kid was good at crisis management, Emma decided, still unsure as to whether her body was crushed to smithereens under her clothes.

A baby cried in the distance.

Okay, maybe he wasn't that great.

"Henry, go get the baby from the swing," Regina stated, slowly coming out of her rage stupor. "I'll take care of Emma."

Henry obeyed, and Emma heard the sound of his feet pounding across the grass toward the crying.

"I didn't poof you in time, did I?" Regina asked.

"Am I alive?" Emma asked.

"Damn. A split second earlier and you would've been fine." She sounded disappointed, but not distraught.

"Am I alive?" Emma repeated.

"Yes, you'll be fine. I poofed you out just as the car was hitting you, so your body isn't sure if it's been crushed or not."

"You poofed me."

"Fixing it isn't complicated, but I'm not great at healing magic." Regina sighed. "The Blue fairy is not an option right now, which leaves Gold—."

"No," Emma interrupted. "I'm not owing that man any more favours." She reached for Regina's arm, cringing at the pain that shot down her spine at the movement. She placed the woman's hand on her stomach and croaked, "Try."

Regina focused on her hand, but Emma didn't feel anything.

"Hmm." She grabbed Regina's wrist and held on. "Try it again."

Warmth flooded into her limbs, dulling the pain.

"Did that work?" Regina asked. "Does it feel better?"

"Better, but not completely." She tried to sit up, but found she still needed some help getting completely upright.

Regina ushered her into the passenger side of her car and Henry hopped in the back, the baby's car seat already magically transported and installed next to him. Emma looked at Regina, her nostrils flared in anger as she stared down the road at the totaled sports car. She placed her hand over Regina's.

"It won't be hard to track them down later," she told the woman. If they weren't already crushed to death, she thought to herself.

* * *

Regina's hands twitched on the steering wheel, wanting to sweep everyone in her path off the road, wanting to crush every car that stood between her and her destination. Whenever rage clouded her vision, vengeance cleared it. Henry had stopped her from completing her revenge on the occupants of the sports car, and now she could hardly see the road ahead of her, imagining instead squeezing the offending car into shrapnel.

"Regina, you're drifting," Emma reminded her.

She drew the car back onto the right side of the road and took a deep breath.

She knew if she took her three passengers to the mayoral mansion, the two idiots would probably get confused and end up breaking down her door brandishing weapons, but Emma's apartment was too open for the woman to rest while the baby fussed in the next room over. Swallowing her discomfort, Regina parked in front of the Charmings' house, ready to take Emma inside.

Once she and Henry got Emma into the guest room bed, the boy turned to his babysitting duties and left the two of them alone to work their magic.

Regina's mind never strayed as her hand trailed along Emma's legs, focused as she was on healing the woman. She had never experienced touch magic quite like this. Emma's pure-hearted magic traveled through Regina's body and out her fingertips with no effort on Emma's part whatsoever. For Regina, it was a revelation in magical practice more than the intimate petting she feared it was coming across as to Emma.

"It _is_ working, right?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, it feels like my legs are definitely whole now, if a little unstable."

"I think that's all we can do for now," Regina said, patting her leg. " You should rest. Call me if you need anything. I'll be downstairs until your parents get here."

She withdrew her hand from Emma's body. It would be wrong to keep it there any longer than was magically necessary. She was desperate to caress Emma's arm, to run her fingers through the blonde's hair, petting her until they both felt calm and loved, but that wasn't what she had with Emma. It wasn't what Emma wanted from her right now, or possibly ever.

"Thank you, Regina," Emma croaked. "Sorry for yelling at you earlier."

"No, I understand," Regina said. "I probably would have yelled too. I know you don't believe in this, and that's okay. It doesn't change the way I feel about you."

Emma looked up at her with a tight smile, but the skepticism in her eyes was still there. Regina knew she could no longer tease the woman about her theory—she had felt the light in her heart threaten to go out when the sports car crashed into Emma. Her love for the saviour was in earnest territory now, and she had seen how Emma had reacted to the male suitors who had pressed their case in earnest. She would not demean herself to win a pity kiss from Emma, nor would the woman she had come to know and love learn to love her if she did.

"I'll let you sleep," she said, placing what she hoped would come across as a platonic kiss on Emma's forehead before she stood to go.

She kept Henry and Emma Number Two company in the Charmings' kitchen until they arrived home, beaming with the afterglow of a baby-free dinner date. Neither Henry nor Regina had thought to interrupt their dinner with news of Emma's near-death experience, so Regina was apprehensive as she filled them in on the afternoon's events.

Snow made the mistake of asking if Dr Whale had been around to take a look at Emma yet, resulting in an awkward fight between the lovebirds about Snow's judge of character when it came to medical professionals. After two minutes of their nonsense, Regina interrupted to remind them to lower their voices and let Emma rest undisturbed. Of course, this only prompted the haughty prince to storm up the stairs into the guest room to check up on her.

"I'm sorry, Regina," said Snow. "About David. Sometimes he can't see past his own determination to be the white knight to notice that someone else already has the situation under control."

Regina almost softened toward the woman at the apology, but was spared the agony of that particular fate when Snow added, "I think it would be so different if Emma would just find a man already. With the baby and all, David and I can't be there for her 24/7, and I think he'd feel a lot better if he could pass the reins to someone else."

"Yeah," Henry scoffed, appearing behind them. "Emma has no idea how to cope without you and gramps there for her 24/7. Oh wait, you never were, so nothing has changed." He turned to the baby in his arms and cooed, "Who's a little reset button for really bad parents? You are! You are!"

"Henry!" Regina scolded him, taking the baby from his arms while Snow stood staring at him, mouth agape. The glorious sight of her old foe's expression was marred by the venom she recognized in her son's voice.

"No, mom!" he yelled, "They act like they're better than you, but you know what? I never felt like Roland was your Henry Number Two, not ever. Emma is the product of true love soulmates who had pure hearts when they made her. You'd think that would give her a life full of love, but they didn't even fight for her. They put her in a tree because they heard it was her destiny, and now they get a neat little do-over. It's no wonder she doesn't want to think you two are soulmates—look how destiny worked out for her last time!"

"Henry," Regina interrupted, uncomfortable with his simplification of Emma's problems. "Full disclosure: I would have killed her if they hadn't."

"Soulmates?" Snow questioned, staring at Regina.

"I don't think you would have," Henry insisted, ignoring Snow. "When you were at your worst, I couldn't imagine you killing—or even abandoning—a baby, even if you knew that baby's destiny was to ruin you. Love is more important than fate and you know it, even though that thought never occurred to Snow White and Prince Charming."

"Who's soulmates?" Snow asked.

Regina leveled a glare at the woman. She was truly awful.

Henry continued his diatribe. "I think it's ironic that this town's perfect example of true love somehow finds a way to rob everyone else of it! Look at her!" He gestured to Snow. "It's like she can't stand the idea that someone other than her and David might experience love!"

"But your soulmate is Robin Hood," Snow told Regina, shaking her head. "Emma's not your soulmate. Emma's straight!"

"Seriously?" Henry shouted. "That's what you take away from everything I just said? Emma's straight?"

"And you were my step-mother!" Snow cried, removing the baby from Regina's arms.

Regina threw her hands up. "I'm also the mother of your grandchild! And his great grandfather is Peter Pan! Who cares anymore?"

"I care!" Snow yelled. The baby's mouth started to quiver.

"That's the thing," Henry interrupted in a soothing tone, smiling at the baby as he spoke. "You never care about the things that make other people happy, you just care about yourself." He turned to Regina. "For what it's worth, I think you and Emma should be together."

Despite the tense situation, Regina smiled. She knew it. "You do?"

Snow scoffed.

"Yeah," he reasoned. "This way we can both move into your house. I really miss having a room with a door, but I don't want to leave Emma all alone in that apartment like some _other_ people."

She didn't know whether to be offended at his unsentimental answer, proud of his compassion for Emma, or elated at his merciless rebuke of the Charmings. She didn't want the boy to be consumed with hate like she had always been, but it was gratifying to see that her son's personality was not entirely based on biological inheritance.

"What's going on down here?" David asked, treading lightly down the stairs.

"Well, apparently Henry hates us and Regina wants Emma to be a lesbian!" Snow cried. "Now I need to go sit down!" She stormed out of the room with the baby.

David raised his eyebrows and sighed, looking at Regina and Henry for further explanation.

Regina raised her hands in surrender. "Let's just skip to the part where you cast me out of the house and I go solve everything on my own as usual and hunt down the person who did this to your daughter."

David scoffed. "And who is that?"

"Robin Hood," Regina spat with a sneer.

David's frown cracked into a smile and he laughed. "I get that you and Robin are having problems, Regina, but why on Earth would he want to hurt Emma?"

"Because he found out that Emma is my real soulmate."

The silence that loomed over the room was broken by a quiet chuckle.

Regina looked at her giggling son, who beamed back up at her.

"This is fun."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note:** _Thanks again for all your reviews! The mystery comes to a head in this chapter. Prepare yourselves & bear with me._

* * *

As soon as Emma opened her eyes and remembered the events of the day before, she checked her limbs. They were all in working order. The magic had worked, but the question remained: which magic?

She had felt the effects of the spell as she channeled her healing magic through Regina's skilled hands, but it was nothing compared to the warmth that had spread through her body when Regina kissed her forehead.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mary Margaret.

"Oh! You're awake!" her mother said, setting down a tray of tea and breakfast. "How do you feel?"

"Good," Emma said, her thoughtful frown still etched on her face.

"Do you want to tell me what this is all about?"

As much as she resented her mother right now, Mary Margaret was a compelling confidante, and she needed a soundboard. She filled her in on the situation with Regina and Robin Hood's break-up, Robin's subsequent sketchy behaviour with the fairies, and Regina's conspiracy about the lion flower tattoo.

Emma had thought Mary Margaret might be upset to hear that she could be Regina's soulmate, but the woman just nodded, a placid smile pasted on her face.

"Sounds a bit far-fetched, don't you think, Emma?"

There it was. "The idea of true love sounds far-fetched to me."

"Well, what about me and your father? We're true loves."

Emma bit her tongue.

"Regina has always been her own worst enemy," Mary Margaret explained, bending toward Emma as though she were talking to a fourth-grader. "Robin has a hard time ahead of him, but we need to believe that they will find their way to a happy ending together."

Emma frowned. "Why do we need to believe it?"

"Because they're meant to be together, Emma!"

Emma groaned. She would never get a logical argument about magic out of anyone from the Enchanted Forest.

"Your father and I called Blue this morning," Mary Margaret confessed.

"What?" Emma said, sitting up. "Why would you do that?"

"She said you came questioning her about fairy dust? Have you ever thought that maybe the _conspiracy_ here isn't coming from the fairies but from the one woman who has tried to destroy our family time and time again?"

Emma got out of the bed and started pacing the room. It was all coming together. "Blue."

"No, Emma, I meant Regina. Blue has always been a friend."

"She's the one who told you to send me away," Emma spoke, half to herself. "That's it. That's why she sent me away. To keep me away from Regina."

"Emma, you're not making any sense!"

"Regina was with me when I got hit by the car," Emma yelled. "She healed me! If she wanted to destroy me, she would have let me die."

David appeared in the doorway. "Emma, the baby's asleep." He frowned at her. "And you shouldn't be out of bed. You need your rest."

"I'll lower my voice, but I'm fine," Emma said, continuing to pace. She finally had all of the pieces of the puzzle and she could see the picture they created. "Think about it: Blue knew I could break Regina's curse, but she sent me to another dimension haphazardly instead of trying literally anything else that might have kept me with you, or with Regina, whose curse I was meant to break. How does that make sense? I used to think it was my fate as the saviour that made the tree spit me out into the same world as the curse brought you to, but maybe it was something bigger. Everything I've been through here has taught me that love is my strength. Doesn't it make sense that that's what guided me here?"

"I don't understand what's going on, Emma," David interrupted. Something in his voice was less patronizing than Mary Margaret's, so Emma steeled herself long enough to actually listen to him. "Last night, Henry and Regina both acted like you were supposed to be Regina's soulmate, but fairy dust doesn't lie. Everybody knows Regina is meant to be with Robin."

"Exactly!" Emma agreed, before taking in the man's confused expression. "Whenever 'everybody knows' something, it just means nobody's supposed to ask questions. Blue and her minions planned on that."

David folded his arms, and Emma knew she was losing her audience, but she couldn't help it—she was beginning to believe Regina.

"Look, I was skeptical too, but now I kind of think there is a conspiracy. I'm not sure what Blue's end game is, but it doesn't take too much creativity to imagine that a super powerful magical being with a grudge might try to mess with Regina's happy ending with some bogus fairy dust. And if I try not to think about how overblown this whole soulmate thing seems, I kind of think I might be Regina's. When she kissed me—"

"She _kissed_ you?"

"It was like magic spread through my whole body," Emma finished, ignoring Mary Margaret. She came to a conclusion. "I need to get to Regina. We need to figure out if Robin and the fairies were the ones who tried to kill me."

"Of course they weren't! Emma!" Mary Margaret called to her, but she was already halfway down the stairs.

David wasn't far behind. She worried he was trying to stall her when he grabbed her coat, but he grabbed the keys to his truck, too, and walked out the door before her.

"I'm impressed," Emma said, buckling her seatbelt. "I didn't think you'd be that easy to convince."

"I agree with your mother," he murmured. "I don't even want to think about the idea that you and Regina could be soulmates, and I can't imagine Blue would ever do anything to hurt our family." He paused to heave a big sigh before continuing, "But if someone out there _is_ trying to hurt you, I'm not taking any chances."

Only somewhat mollified, Emma remained silent for the next few minutes, opening her mouth only to direct him to the scene of the accident.

Her heart fluttered when she recognized Regina's car parked down the road, next to the totaled sports car. Her entire body hummed with energy as she and David approached the woman. Emma barely even recognized Mulan's presence until her deputy bid her good morning.

"We found some blood in the car, but no bodies anywhere and no paperwork in the glove box," Mulan filled her in. "I can send some samples to Boston for a DNA test, but it will take a while for the results to come back." She gestured to Regina. "I ran into this one outside the B&B last night with a murderous look on her face and she filled me in on what happened. Nobody at the B&B had seen Robin all day, so I think our first priority is tracking him down."

"You too?" David asked the deputy. "You actually believe this conspiracy theory?"

Emma smiled as Mulan gave him a curt nod. It was nice to know that at least one other person didn't think this whole thing was completely nuts.

"Once you drop off the samples," Emma told her, "you and David track down Robin." She turned to her father. "I need you to question him. If you can't get any information from him, try to get a sample of his hair so we can send it to Boston with the blood samples. Mulan will be your back-up in case he tries to attack you, too."

"What about you?" David asked, his eyes darting nervously between her and Regina.

"Regina and I have some fairies to question."

* * *

Regina drove to the convent with Emma in silence. Something had shifted between them, but she wasn't sure if she could afford to feel hopeful about it.

Once they'd parked, Emma filled her in on her plan.

"Tink and Robin appear to be Blue's minions, so I'm guessing she'll shield us from talking to Tink. If I'm right, Blue is the mastermind behind this whole thing. She's the one who sent me away from the Enchanted Forest to begin with. She wants to keep you and me apart, and I want to know why."

Regina raised her eyebrows. "Are you saying you believe me now? That this _is_ about us?"

Emma let out a deep breath and looked over at her. "I think it is."

Regina's thoughts swam. Emma believed her, but she still didn't look nearly as thrilled as Regina felt. She thought about what Henry had said the night before, about how destiny had always ended badly for Emma.

"I'm sorry."

Emma's brow wrinkled. "For what?"

"For being your soulmate," Regina expanded. "I know you can't be thrilled to have another destiny thrust upon you against your will. We can let it all happen naturally if you like. We can go back to barely tolerating each other like you suggested—or at least I can pretend I only barely tolerate you if that will make this more comfortable for you." Emma smiled, and Regina continued. "Let's just live our lives how we want and see how it all comes together."

Emma's lips were on hers before she knew if her speech was done. Soft and purposeful, the kiss distracted her from all further thought, and she surrendered to it entirely. When they parted, Regina had forgotten what it was to speak at all, and both women took a moment to look at each other in silence before Regina leaned in to kiss her again. This time when they parted, they both simultaneously opened their doors, determined to face the enemies before them.

They walked together towards the convent.

####

With Emma at her side, Regina was prepared for a long and hard-fought battle of the wills. She wasn't prepared for what confronted them when they opened the door to the Blue Fairy's office.

"—need to be more careful or so help me—" Blue stopped talking immediately at their entrance to her private office, her face red with shock and anger. "Wh-what do you think you're doing here?" she stammered, remembering at the last minute to hold her chin high.

Regina looked pointedly at the gauze in the fairy's hands, the bandages wrapped around Tinker Bell's head, and back to the Blue Fairy again.

"It appears as though we're walking in on you treating the injuries dear Tinker Bell sustained from the car crash yesterday," she said with a wide grin. "You know, when you tried to have Emma killed."

The fairies' eyes widened.

"Both of you," Emma commanded them, "put your hands up and turn to face the wall." She arrested each in turn, Tink for attempted murder, Blue for grand conspiracy.

"You are both incredibly confused," Blue spat.

"Yes, well, too bad you didn't want to offer me any answers when I asked nicely," Emma said.

Regina's heart fluttered. Emma was prone to taking a hard stance against those who didn't cooperate with her. It was beautiful to watch, when she wasn't the one bearing the brunt of it.

She took enough pleasure in bringing the fairies in to the station, even if their confrontation had been a bit of an anti-climax. As it turned out, Mulan and David had had an easy time bringing in Robin as well.

Her skin prickled. Why was it coming together so easily?

Suspicious, she slipped away from Emma and their captives into the main office and prowled toward the jail cell holding her ex. Sitting across from the miserable man, she examined his injuries and sneered as she recognized the bruising pattern of a steering wheel imprinted on his forearms.

"Regina," he whispered, pleading at her with his mournful eyes. "Please, Regina, do I mean nothing to you?"

She squinted at him. "What part of that wasn't clear to you?"

"I am your soulmate, Regina."

"No, you tried to kill my soulmate when I discovered the fairy dust had lied about you."

"Emma's not your soulmate—I am!" he insisted. "And I wasn't trying to kill her. It was an accident, Regina." He looked at her so wistfully she had to swallow hard to suppress the rising bile in her throat. "Forgive me. I'm lost without you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I do wonder what's in it for you. What did the fairies promise you in return for your cooperation?"

Tears began to form in his eyes. "I am in this for you and you alone," he murmured.

She shook her head. He wasn't worth arguing with, and he wasn't giving her any useful information.

His begging continued, but the words were lost on her. Instead, she rose and walked across the room to speak with Mulan.

"His story is weak," the deputy told her. "I didn't need Emma there to know how much he was lying. He insisted that he and Tinker Bell didn't know each other and that he was only giving her a ride because he felt bad for handcuffing her the other night."

Regina huffed in disbelief.

"He said he was driving too fast and he lost control of the car, then he got scared and tried to drive off before he was…" Mulan raised an eyebrow at her friend before carefully choosing her next words. "Before he was mysteriously swept off the road."

Regina looked over her shoulder at the pathetic caged man and shook her head. She didn't care who knew she'd tried to kill the occupants of the sports car that hit Emma. She'd do it again in an instant, with more accuracy.

"I do wonder how he survived that horrible _accident_."

"They were ejected through the windshield on impact. At least that part of his story holds up." Mulan looked sideways at David as he entered the office. "I might leave David out of the questioning. He was surprisingly passive with Robin, considering the attempt on his daughter's life."

"You think he might be involved somehow?" Regina asked. She looked at the man from across the room. He was sitting at his desk, mindlessly scratching the stubble on his chin.

"He is close with the Blue Fairy."

Regina shook her head. "He's put a lot of stock in her advice and her blessings. The Charmings may be champions of justice, but there's always something in it for them in the end. This time, justice might mean acknowledging that they ruined Emma's life by trusting the wrong fairy."

Mulan looked at her. "He might not want his daughter's soulmate to be the woman who tried to kill his wife a bunch of times either."

Regina sighed. "Yes, I should probably do something about that."

She looked at Mulan and noticed a wide grin stretching across her friend's face. She'd never seen the warrior woman smile so big before and she wasn't sure whether to frown or smile in response.

Mulan laughed. "Well, good luck with that." She glanced down the hall as Emma emerged from the holding room and smiled at Regina. "Looks like you don't need any more help convincing Emma."

The only response Regina gave her friend was the silly smile plastered on her face as she waved down the hall at Emma.

Mulan laughed again as Emma joined them, an equally goofy grin on her face. The deputy looked between the two lovers for a whole two seconds before shivering at their sincerity and removing herself from their presence.

"Looks like I have a full day of grilling these jerks for answers ahead of me," Emma said, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

Regina grinned at her wolfishly. "Have fun."

"If I finish early, will I find you at the office?"

Regina's heart fluttered. Now that Emma was onboard with the relationship, sex was on the table. Maybe even on her table in the office. She swallowed down the panic this instilled in her and remembered she had other plans for the day.

"Actually, I'm going to try to speak to your mother. Last night didn't go very well between us, and Henry was very upset. I thought I should try to smooth things over."

"That's nice and all, but I think you might be fighting a losing battle with her," Emma muttered.

"I have quite a bit of experience with losing battles to Snow White," Regina said. "That's why I thought I might try peace."

Emma's expression told her not to hold her breath.

"Well, if that doesn't work, we can destroy her together," Regina deadpanned.

Emma's eyebrows knit together momentarily before Regina burst out laughing.

Emma relaxed and cracked a smile. "You're going to be really scary to date, aren't you?"

Before she could allow herself to feel offended, Regina found an honest answer. "You're pretty scary, too."

There was nothing inherently scary about Emma Swan—not in the way Regina knew she herself was—but she was scared all the same. Even knowing they were meant for each other couldn't remove the fear she had that this woman was far too good for her, that she would end up as sad and pathetic as Robin, that Emma would come to resent her the way she herself had resented Robin when she discovered how unworthy he was.

But Emma smiled and kissed her then, and broke her anxious spiral.

Mulan hooted at them from her desk, and their laughter broke their kiss.

"When I'm done here, I'll come find you," Emma said, and Regina walked out of the station smiling, her heart warmed at the cheesy, charming promise from her true love.

* * *

Blue was proving difficult, and Emma regretted that Regina and Mulan hadn't tried confronting her last night. The time Emma had spent healing her legs had given the fairy time to concoct a story. Robin's differed vastly from Blue's at first, but after a few subsequent interviews he was beginning to admit to much more than he had originally.

The picture was coming together for everyone but Emma.

"I hate to say it, Sheriff, but it sounds true to me," Mulan admitted after their second round with Blue. "I'm not blessed with your gift, though. How did it sound to you?"

"Any testimony that insists that Robin Hood is Regina's soulmate sounds like bullshit to me."

Mulan looked away, frustrated.

"Do you seriously believe Regina should be with Robin instead of with me?" Emma asked. "You were just cheering at us kissing in the hallway two hours ago. You believed we were soulmates before I did!"

Mulan pursed her lips. "I don't want it to be true any more than you do. All I'm saying is, her story sounds legitimate. If you weren't taking it so personally, you'd see that."

"Oh, sorry, I'll try not to take it personally when everyone believes that the only real love I've ever actually felt from another human being belongs to someone else." Emma's mind raced as she stared at the fairy sitting smugly at the table in the little room. She needed to poke holes in her story. "We still haven't interviewed Tink. One of them is going to slip up. You'll see."

Mulan shook her head. "I think you're too invested in what you want to her to say to do your job objectively."

"And I think you just bought yourself some bench time," Emma spat. "You'll sit this one out." She called David over and prepped him for the interview as Mulan skulked back to her desk.

####

Emma strongly regretted bringing in her father for Tink's interrogation. Her first regret came immediately, when she realized the conversation might steer towards her relationship with Regina. That would definitely be awkward, but she never dreamed the conversation could go this badly.

"And by 'head job' you mean…" Emma started.

"Oral sex," Tinker Bell finished for her.

Emma grimaced.

"So," David clarified, clearing his throat, "you and Robin are…?"

"Robin and I aren't anything," Tink said with a shrug. "I felt a bit responsible for casting the dust that paired him with Regina, so I thought, if he wants to have a bit of a fuck in that cold bitch's garden, who am I to say no? Lord knows I'm not her biggest fan either."

"So you admit you were the ones sneaking into her backyard," Emma clarified. Here it was: the aha! moment. "You claim it was for sex, but why would anyone choose to have a sexy encounter in a garden every dog owner in Storybrooke uses as a toilet? Something about that sounds off to me."

Tink shook her head. "I knew I smelled something."

"And what is Blue's role in all of this?" David interrupted, steering the conversation back to a more comfortable topic.

Tink shrugged. "Look, as much as Blue regrets bringing me back into the fold, she can't very well take away my wings now. I'm never going to be like the other fairies, but she's still going to try to make it look like I am."

"And why is that?" Emma had already heard it from Blue, but she wanted to hear it again. See if she could find the flaw in their story.

"We're dealing with new challenges. People have started to question our relevance in this world, and with that, they are losing their belief in us. You grew up with our stories, Sheriff. You must know what happens to fairies when people stop believing."

"I don't get it," David piped in. "How is this relevant?"

Tink turned her attention to him. "This town is very fickle. They loved it when their Evil Queen settled down with her soulmate. To them, it was the perfect ending, and we were responsible for it. When word got out that Robin and Regina had broken up, it rocked their belief in us. And I guess I made the scandal worse by sleeping with him, which is why Blue tried to get us to cover it up the first time."

"But why did you keep sleeping with him?" he asked.

"Because I wanted to," Tink answered, scrunching her face into an apologetic smile. "I've never been a big rule-follower. Once the scandal hit, I knew Blue couldn't take away my wings without making it look like I was being punished for making a mistake with Regina and Robin. If people believed any fairy could make a mistake that big, they would lose faith in the entire organisation. I can get away with a lot more than just fraternising with non-fairies, and she can't do anything about it without risking a huge public relations disaster."

Emma's spirits brightened. "So you're saying, no matter what, Blue will not admit that Robin and Regina are a mistake."

Tink smiled a cloyingly sweet smile. "Robin and Regina aren't a mistake. They are true loves, Sheriff Swan."

"No, they can't be."

"Emma," David murmured. "True love isn't always obvious at first. Snow and I fought a lot before we believed we were meant to be together. Robin and Regina just need time."

"Look," Tink interrupted, never taking her eyes off Emma. "I know Regina got hung up on you having a lion tattoo, but that honestly had nothing to do with the spell."

"No," Emma spat. "There are too many coincidences for this story to make sense to me."

"You have a lion tattoo?" David asked her.

"When I was fourteen, I got a random flower tattooed on my wrist. That flower, coincidence, turned out to be the same flower on your family crest, which, coincidence, is a ville de lyon flower—that translates to _lion_ _village_. If I've learned anything at all from living in this town, it's that there are no coincidences!"

"Emma," he said, his voice low. "The flower on our crest is a snowdrop. It isn't a ville de lyon."

Emma's stomach dropped. Her mouth suddenly felt dry. "What?"

"The _lion_ on our crest is a lion. The flowers are snowdrops. Snow, like your mother." He took Emma's wrist and gently turned it over. "This tattoo isn't a coincidence, Emma, but it's not a lion flower."

"But—"

Tink chuckled. "You don't even have a lion tattoo? What are you two lezzas even going on about then?"

"The dust," Emma mumbled, grasping at straws. "It doesn't work properly for queer people."

"Get off it," Tink said with a smile. "You've got nothing and you know it."

Emma pulled her wrist free from David and stood, her legs suddenly shaky again. She walked out of the room and out of the station, ignoring Mulan's questions as her walk turned into a run.

She had to get out of the station. She had to talk to Regina.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:** _Thanks, everybody, for all your reviews and faves! I've had a lot of fun writing this, and I'm glad some of you have found it fun to read. I hope this final chapter holds up :)_

* * *

Regina had been standing on Snow White's doorstep for a good minute. She gathered up all of the horrible thoughts and feelings she had and mentally stowed them away. She forced herself to smile, and the muscle memory brought thoughts of Emma to the surface, replacing her apprehension with the clarity of a focused heart. She rang the doorbell.

And immediately heard the wail of a woken baby.

Not off to a good start.

The door flew open, but Snow didn't bother to register who was behind it before she turned and ran up the stairs to the crying child.

Regina scowled at the woman's naiveté. She could have been anyone, and that dolt just gave her free reign of her house.

She closed the door behind her and decided the kindest thing to do was to follow the noise of Snow's ineffectual cooing and announce herself.

Snow's eyes widened when she recognized Regina in the doorway of the nursery, and her mouth set in a disapproving line.

"Sorry," Regina said, recalling her own murderous rage whenever some idiot had woken Henry from a nap. "I shouldn't have rung the doorbell."

She hadn't intended to start their conversation with an apology, but it appeared to have had a good effect on Snow, whose whole body seemed to relax at Regina's words.

The baby in the woman's arms seemed taken with the unfamiliar sound of Regina's voice, and a silence descended on the room as she held its little gaze.

"Is this about me?" Snow asked. "This thing between you and Emma."

Regina masterfully kept her mouth from sneering at the self-involved princess and managed to answer calmly. "No, it's about me and Emma."

Snow took a deep breath. "Then why are you trying to turn Henry against me?"

"I didn't have to try," Regina said automatically. Damn. Snow's face was doing that thing it did. Pouting. Regina closed her eyes and tried a better response. "Henry is angry at you because you've hurt Emma."

"No I haven't!" Snow was quick to respond.

Regina clenched her fists to avoid rolling her eyes in front of the woman. "You're careless," she explained. "You've always been careless with the people close to you, believing that you have an inherent goodness that makes all of your impulses harmless."

"I won't have you come into my house to insult me—"

Regina had to close her eyes again. It filled her with too much rage to see how vehemently the woman believed that her identity as a victim made her above reprieve. "I didn't come here to insult you. I came here to ask for your help."

She opened her eyes and saw the woman smugly holding her chin higher, waiting for Regina to continue.

She sighed. "When Henry asked me to tell him about all the things you did to me in the past—"

"What _I_ did to _you_?!"

Regina silenced her with a glare. "Yes, dear. He's already heard about everything that I did to you." Snow slumped, and Regina took a calming breath. "I admit that I enjoyed telling him about the side of you his little book didn't tell him about."

Snow's face contorted into a pout again, but this time there was shame behind it.

Regina took strength from that and continued, "I didn't tell him about what you did to Cora's heart."

Snow tilted her head. "Why not, Regina? If you wanted Henry on your side, that's the best story to tell him."

"Because as much as I like the idea of Henry finally seeing someone else's flaws instead of mine, I don't want there to be sides anymore. It's not good for Henry. It's not good for anyone. If we're going to live happily ever after together as a family, you and I need to be on each other's side."

Snow sighed. The baby had fallen back asleep and she gently lowered the child into the crib. She crept out of the room and Regina followed, silently closing the door behind them. She led them down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she appeared to have abandoned a cup of tea.

"I don't know how I feel about you marrying your way into my family again," Snow said, tipping the rest of the pot into a mug for Regina. "It didn't go very well for me the first time. Sugar?"

Regina shook her head and took the mug. "It didn't go very well for me either, you know. I didn't exactly choose to spend my early adult life sharing a bed with an unsympathetic middle-aged man."

Snow looked at her, mouth agape.

Regina raised her eyebrows and took a sip of her tea, daring Snow to argue with that.

The princess finally closed her mouth, frowned, and opened it again to answer, "Well, I'm sorry that you saved my life, and I'm sorry that it resulted in you marrying my father."

"I'm sorry, too," Regina said. The part of her that wanted this to work kicked the part of her that recoiled at Snow's self-pitying apology and she amended, "That you lost your father as a result of our marriage. I'm no longer sorry that I saved your life. I did like you, that day we met."

Snow's eyes brimmed with tears. "I'm sorry about Cora!" she cried, her hands shooting out to pull Regina into a hug.

Regina bristled, but willed herself to at least perform relaxation, even if she didn't feel it. She settled into Snow White's arms and was surprised to feel her heart become lighter. She tried to make herself remember the little girl she'd rescued from the runaway horse, and her arms responded accordingly, if briefly, by patting Snow on the back and bringing the hug to a close.

Regina lifted her chin, eager to move on from the intimacy and get to her original point. "I know you and I can't simply start over, but this family is different from the one you and I shared before and I'd like this one to be rather more functional than the last. I think it would help your relationship with Emma and Henry if you could make it to the diner some weekdays. If weekends are better, perhaps I could babysit for you for an afternoon and the four of you could spend some quality time together. It would also be nice if we could get Henry to babysit the baby on his own one night and the four of us could go out for dinner, get to know each other in this new configuration."

Snow swallowed like a bad taste had entered her mouth. "I appreciate your advice, Regina, but I still don't think you and Emma are meant to be together. She told me about your theory, and I do think it's a strange coincidence that her tattoo is this ville de lyon flower, but I refuse to believe that Blue would go so far to keep you from finding your true love. And I still don't understand what it means for Robin."

Snow spoke sincerely. It was a trait that usually bothered Regina, but today it meant that the woman was giving her a chance to convince her.

"I won't pretend to know why Blue or Tinker Bell have done what they have done," Regina admitted. "And I don't care what any of it means for Robin. All I do know is that Emma and I make sense."

Snow narrowed her eyes at Regina. "And Emma really wants this?"

Regina shrugged, a gesture she'd always disliked in a conversational partner but one she couldn't stop herself from performing when she felt overwhelmed. Did Emma really want to be her soulmate? Emma didn't like fate, but Emma had kissed her all the same. "She didn't at first, but I think she does now."

Snow sighed. "All I've ever really wanted is for Emma to be happy."

Was it? Regina wondered. But it didn't matter, as long as that belief led Snow to a favourable conclusion.

"I won't pretend to understand this whole soulmate conspiracy, Regina, but if Emma wants to be with you I'll accept it."

Regina hid her smile behind her mug of tea. "You don't have a problem with her being with a woman?"

Snow clenched her eyes shut and held up her hands. "I don't want to think about Emma _being with_ anyone. I just want her to find love. If she finds it with you, then that's her choice."

"Technically, it's her destiny," Regina corrected her with an innocent smile.

Snow glared at her before sighing and relaxing into a smile. "If that's her destiny, then I'll come to accept it like I came to accept her fate as the saviour. It wasn't what I wanted for her, and I feared for her life—" She raised her eyebrow pointedly at Regina. "—But I trust in Emma, and I'll come to trust you as well, Regina."

"Good," Regina said with a smile. One she was surprised to find was actually genuine.

"I'm glad you came over," Snow said. "I feel a lot better now than I did last night."

"Me too."

Not wanting to push it, Regina downed the last of her tea and excused herself. She could get in a good hour of work at the office before she met Henry at school.

Snow wouldn't join them today, but she promised to make an effort later this week. Regina left the Charmings' house actually feeling positive at the prospect of spending more time with Snow White.

She hadn't felt so lighthearted since she was a teenager, when a future filled with love and happiness was all she could imagine for herself.

* * *

Dread washed over Emma's entire body as she spotted Regina's silhouette in front of the school. She wasn't smiling, but Emma thought she looked happy. She stood there on the sidewalk looking like a woman who had everything.

And she did.

For the next few minutes, anyway.

Emma scanned the road for signs of Mary Margaret's car and felt a numb version of relief when she spotted her mother waving at her from the other side of the road. As she approached the car, she recognized a familiar gait in her peripheral vision—Henry was shuffling out of the school towards his mother.

Mary Margaret followed Emma's gaze. "I'll be right here, Emma."

Emma swallowed. Even if her mother was probably doing a victory dance in her head, she was feigning genuine sympathy well enough. And she was here, doing her a favour.

"Thanks for doing this," she said. She hoped the sound of gratitude outweighed that of anger in her voice, even if she didn't feel it. "I'll pick him up… when it's over."

"Emma, I'm sorry—"

"Not your fault." She couldn't bear another moment in her mother's presence. Which was fortuitous, because it motivated her legs to move in Regina and Henry's direction.

"Hey," she said, interrupting the conversation between mother and son. "I need to—" She tried to look only at Henry, but her eyes kept darting to Regina, who smiled back at her in return, causing her to stumble over her words. "I'm sorry, Henry. I need to talk with your mom for a bit."

"We could all talk at Granny's perhaps?" Regina offered.

She was so hopeful. So excited. Emma wanted to curl into a ball and have someone carry her away from this town and this woman forever.

She looked at the ground and forced her voice into action. "Mary Margaret's here."

Henry groaned.

"Look, kid, I'm sorry for all the time you've had to spend with her lately, but she promised to let you order pizza for dinner."

Regina tilted her head. She looked intrigued but not alarmed. Emma wasn't sure if she would feel better if the woman understood that something was horribly wrong. Regina was actually looking past Emma and smiling in Mary Margaret's direction, as though everything was going to be okay.

"This sucks!" Henry spat. "I don't want to eat pizza with her!"

"Henry," Regina interrupted. "Go with her today. Consider it an exercise in patience. If you're anything like me—and you are—this is something you will need to practice. Tomorrow, the three of us can have dinner together." She looked at Emma and raised her eyebrows in question.

Emma couldn't make a smile appear on her lips so she looked at Henry and nodded at him instead.

He scowled at her, then at Regina, before dragging his feet towards his waiting grandmother.

Regina watched Henry's dramatic performance and shared a smirk with Emma.

Emma felt a late bloom of butterflies erupt in her stomach. This beautiful woman was sharing a moment with her, her eyes sparkling with a love Emma had never known.

And never would, she reminded herself.

Still, her heart swelled when Regina grabbed her hand and asked her where they were going.

"My apartment," Emma mumbled, and she kicked herself when she noticed the shy blush that grew on Regina's cheeks as they neared the building.

"You're being awfully quiet," Regina said as she followed Emma up the stairs. "Are you going to fill me in on what happened at the station?"

Emma opened the door to the apartment, her heart constricting in her chest. "I don't want to talk about that just yet."

She closed the door behind Regina and threw both of their coats onto the kitchen table. When she looked back at the woman, she could no longer avoid her gaze.

"What do you want to talk about then?" Regina asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Emma was angry. She was angry and she wanted to cry, but she also wanted desperately to kiss Regina. For this day to have been part of a fantastic conspiracy, where everyone but them was involved. A part of her wondered if both of them had known anyway. If there had always been an attraction between them, and the conspiracy theory had been a flimsy excuse for acting on it. Had she ever really believed it was true?

She'd felt it, she reminded herself. She'd felt magic when the woman had kissed her forehead yesterday, and she'd felt true love when their lips connected this morning in the car.

She leaned in and kissed the woman now. "I feel it," she said, kissing Regina again. "Can't you feel it?"

"The magic?" Regina asked with a knowing grin. "When we kiss? Of course I feel it."

Emma kissed her a third time, but a troubling thought popped into her head. If she wasn't Regina's soulmate, no amount of kissing would change that. Robin was her soulmate. Regina was meant for someone else. Emma had no right to kiss her when she knew the truth. She had to tell her.

She looked at Regina and registered the expression on her face. She was the scariest woman in the world, but she looked timid as her hands fiddled with the buttons on Emma's shirt.

Emma leaned in to her, aching to press her body against Regina's but too conflicted to allow the woman to continue to undress her.

She was too late to stop Regina's other hand, which had migrated toward her sheriff's belt and disarmed her, carefully placing the loaded belt on the floor.

Emma had dreamed of Regina in this position so many times, she couldn't bring herself to pull the woman up off her knees. She sank to the floor instead, searching Regina's eyes for a sign that this woman was not for her. That this was miraculously a different woman from the one who had pursued her and told her she loved her. That she wasn't that one person who had given her a say in her destiny, who would be as devastated as she was to learn that her choice hadn't mattered anyway.

But they were the same eyes, and she was the same woman.

The worry in her eyes mirrored Emma's own, but for entirely different reasons. "I know I said I wanted to take things slowly," Regina whispered, "but I want to touch you."

Emma gasped as she felt Regina's finger slide along the waist of her jeans and undo the top button. She clasped Regina's body to hers as the woman lowered her hand, her fingers brushing between Emma's legs.

"I don't know how, but I want to," Regina murmured, her voice full of uncertainty.

Emma breathed deeply, her whole body reeling with pleasure at each slight movement of Regina's fingers. She had to stop this. It wasn't right for her to—

"Teach me," the woman breathed in her ear, petting her one last time before bringing her hand out of Emma's pants.

At the momentary reprieve from distraction, Emma tried to gather her courage to tell Regina the truth. She'd barely opened her mouth when the woman slid her fingers under the band of her underwear, overwhelming Emma's better judgment.

There was a line, she reminded herself. There was a line and she was about to step over it. Regina believed she was her soulmate and she loved her. She couldn't do this to her.

She grabbed Regina's wrist and pulled the woman's hand away. "Regina—"

Regina still had a smile on her lips as she coyly replied, "Emma?"

"I want you to," Emma said. "I want you to fuck me. I want to kiss you and touch you and tell you all the reasons why you make me feel so good. I want to wake up next to you on Henry's birthday and have you teach me how to make pancakes the way he likes them. I want to be with you." Regina looked like she was about to kiss her again, when she added, "But I can't."

Regina tensed. "Why not?"

Emma hated herself. She hated Blue for being innocent, and Tink for being honest. She hated Robin most of all, for being Regina's true love.

"Because I'm not your soulmate."

* * *

Regina lost her breath for a moment.

She forced her lungs to take in air enough to whisper, "I thought we'd been through this."

"Me too," Emma said, her voice shaky. "But none of it is true."

"No," Regina pleaded, clasping Emma's hands. "Don't say that. You felt it! You know it's true."

Emma turned her hand over in Regina's, exposing her tattoo. "It's not a ville de lyon."

Regina's heart sank. "No, it is. Ruby said."

"Ruby was confused. It's a snowdrop."

A snowdrop. It wasn't about her at all. "But," she managed to choke out, "the fairies. The conspiracy. The crash."

Emma looked at her with that tight smile. Was it love or pity? Regina couldn't be sure.

"Robin took Tink for a drive in his new car and she was… _distracting_ him while he was driving," Emma explained. "The crash was an accident. And Blue was trying to cover up their affair because it spells bad press for the fairy department, particularly since…" Emma took another deep breath before continuing. "Particularly since Robin is, was, and will always be your soulmate."

"No, I was free of him," Regina cried, standing up and moving away from Emma. "I can't go back. I won't be trapped again."

"Destiny is the opposite of freedom," Emma mumbled. "That's why I've always hated it."

"Are you relieved then?" Regina asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. "Not to be tied to a soulmate by destiny?"

"No," Emma breathed. "What's the point of having free will when the person I want to be with can't use hers to be with me? But you can't run from fate, Regina."

Tears welled up in the woman's eyes and Regina felt something snap inside of her.

"No," she disagreed, pacing. "_You_ don't believe that. Other people believe that, but don't pretend you do too."

Emma looked up at her, confused.

"Your parents believed that when they magicked you away in a tree," she said, becoming more determined by the second. "Neal believed that when he left you to rot in a prison cell. I don't know about you, but I am done having my life dictated by forces beyond my control. If destiny tries to take you away from me, I will destroy everything it touches. I will raze the whole damn universe before I bend to its will."

Emma sniffled and drew her lips into a small, defeated smile. "Regina, Robin is your true love. He's your happy ending. I can't keep you from that."

"Villains don't get happy endings. I've always known that." She looked at the teary eyed woman on the floor, and doubt struck her again. "Do you care that Robin is my soulmate?"

Emma shook her head. "But I don't want to stand in the way of you experiencing true love."

Regina knelt down in front of Emma once more and placed the woman's hands on her waist. She couldn't keep the fierceness out of her voice when she confessed, "I'd rather experience this."

They both leaned forward to kiss again, more tentative than they had been before. Regina still felt her whole body ignite at the kiss, and if Emma's clenching hands on her back were any indication, the other woman did too.

Whatever she felt—whatever this was—was stronger than anything she'd felt with her true love.

She broke from Emma's grasp to push the woman back and crawl on top of her. Her breath stopped—everything stopped—as she watched Emma undo the rest of the buttons on her top. Flaring with excitement, Regina tugged Emma's pants from her. All uncertainty had been banished from her mind. A throaty chuckle escaped her lips as she dragged her bottom lip over Emma's underwear and watched the woman's whole body swell to meet her mouth. Intoxicated by the scent of her, Regina found her hands acting of their own accord, clawing the fabric down the woman's legs. She'd been worried before, but it didn't matter now. She wanted to. Emma wanted her to.

Hands in her hair. Thighs pressed against her ears. The body beneath her hands, undulating in rhythm with her tongue. Her insatiable tongue. Her mouth, swollen with arousal, and the soft and wet and open part of Emma Swan against it. She hummed with pleasure and felt its unexpected effect ripple across Emma's body.

Kissing the woman's mouth had been one thing, but this was another kind of magic altogether. She felt powerful in a way she never had before. Each sound Emma made rang through Regina's body and gave her a focus she had only ever felt when performing her darkest spells. She let out another throaty laugh against the woman as her lips found the spot that Emma liked best.

* * *

How could anyone say they weren't meant to be together?

Emma couldn't recall ever feeling before the way she did with Regina. Men and women in the past had looked at her with longing, but none of them had made her heart skip a beat quite like Regina could.

None of them had stopped her breath in her throat with a look like Regina had that afternoon when she emerged from between Emma's legs and crawled over her body to kiss her. None of them had spread tingles across every inch of her skin when she'd touched them, none of them tasted vaguely like apples, and if any of them had ever moved against her body the way Regina did the memory was so overshadowed now it might as well have never taken place.

In the time that had passed since that first afternoon, Robin had occasionally appeared on their property, drunk and weepy, begging for Regina's love. She wondered then, as she did today, if his time would come eventually, or if she and Regina would be able to stave off her fate for decades. Maybe, she thought, if she died at 80, Regina would find some happiness with Robin for a month or so before following her to the grave.

Sometimes she contemplated killing the man, just to be sure, but she knew that was just Regina's influence, and an impulse neither of them wanted the other to give in to.

Today, she felt guilty for ever having entertained such a thought, but she felt angry too. Why couldn't the idiot have just stolen a potion from Gold? Was all of this really necessary?

As she watched the swarm of snowflakes descend on the town like so many curses had before, Emma felt protected by the traces of warmth Regina's mouth had left on her skin hours earlier. Maybe the loss of that warmth was what had driven Robin to do what he did. Or maybe he had been motivated by a false hope that Regina might bestow a pity kiss upon him to thaw the sliver of ice he'd driven into his heart.

"I don't think he counted on summoning her," Regina said, her eyes trained on the cloud of flurries vaguely masking the silhouette of a woman descending from a glowing portal over the mountains.

"So that's the Snow Queen?" Emma asked, shaking her head. "Can't anybody from a fairy tale realm have a creative name for once?"

"No kidding," Henry said with a laugh, his gangly form clomping down the steps into their front yard.

"Henry, get back inside," Regina ordered the teen as the cloud drew nearer.

"But Grams says I need to practice!" he whined, his bow dangling from his hand. "She says I shoot as badly as Robin."

Emma shook her head. The kid knew how to play them. She exchanged a glance with Regina and raised her eyebrows. They both knew full well the boy would join them whether they granted him their permission or not.

Regina assented. "Follow our lead."

"Yes!" Henry cheered, letting Regina and Emma lead the way to the street and into the centre of town where the giant cloud of snowflakes was accumulating.

Emma walked in tandem with the woman and felt magic stir inside her body. Magic that had been exchanged so much between the two of them that she felt inexorably bound to Regina. The more time went on, the more she empathized with the cheesy way her parents loved each other, the impossible way they were devoted to finding one another against all odds.

She knew, but at the same time could not imagine, that she might one day be permanently separated from this woman she shared her life with.

"What are our chances?" Emma asked, eyeing the nebulous menace gathering above the clock tower.

Regina squinted at the hovering mass and smirked. "I'll admit, it doesn't look good. But only a fool would bet against us."

Emma grinned. Cheesy.

She drew the woman in for a pre-battle kiss, and felt the same swell of bliss and belonging surging through her body that she'd felt the first morning their mouths had met. She felt in her heart what she'd felt then: that they were meant to be together.

Even if they weren't.


End file.
